Coordinate alteration of pp60c-src abundance and c-src RNA expression in human neuroblastoma variants

We examined the expression, abundance, and protein kinase activity of pp60c-src in two different pairs of genetically indistinguishable cloned human neuroblastoma cell variants which display altered phenotypes as the result of conversion from a neuronal to a non-neuronal phenotype. The results demonstrate that cells which exhibit the neuroblastic (N-type) phenotype possess high levels of pp60c-src protein and that one of the two N-type cell lines is capable of expressing the neuronal-specific isoenzyme of pp60c-src. In contrast, cells which display the substrate-adherent (S-type) phenotype have low levels of pp60c-src protein and express exclusively the non-neuronal isoenzyme of pp60c-src. In all cells examined the abundance of pp60c-src was found to be proportional to the steady-state level of c-src RNA. In each case the protein kinase activity of pp60c-src was found to be proportional to the abundance of the protein and independent of the ratio of neuronal to non-neuronal species of pp60c-src.