Globin messenger RNA content in hepatomas: a test of retrogenesis

The globin mRNA content of foetal, neonatal and normal adult liver and of the transplantable Morris hepatoma 5123C and host liver of animals carrying the tumour was measured using molecular hybridization of total nucleic acid extracts from these tissues with a complementary DNA copy of globin mRNA from rabbit reticulocytes. The purpose of these experiments was to determine, as a test at the molecular level of the retrogenesis hypothesis, if the gene for foetal globin is activated in neoplastic hepatic tissue or induced in host liver. These experiments did not detect any foetal globin mRNA in the hepatoma or host liver nucleic acid extracts in spite of the increase in haemopoietic activity induced in host animals as a consequence of tumour bearing.