Ras-mediated cell cycle arrest is altered by nuclear oncogenes to induce Schwann cell transformation

The cellular responses to ras and nuclear oncogenes were investigated in purified populations of rat Schwann cells. v-Ha-ras and SV40 large T cooperate to transform Schwann cells, inducing growth in soft agar and allowing proliferation in the absence of added mitogens. Expression of large T alone reduces their growth factor requirements but is insufficient to induce full transformation. In contrast, expression of v-Ha-ras leads to proliferation arrest in Schwann cells expressing a temperature-sensitive mutant of large T at the restrictive temperature. Cells arrest in either the G1 or G2/M phases of the cell cycle, and can re-enter cell division at the permissive temperature even after prolonged periods at the restrictive conditions. Oncogenic ras proteins also inhibit DNA synthesis when microinjected into Schwann cells. Adenovirus E1a and c-myc oncogenes behave similarly to SV40 large T. They cooperate with Ha-ras oncogenes to transform Schwann cells, and prevent ras-induced growth arrest. Thus nuclear oncogenes fundamentally alter the response of Schwann cells to a ras oncogene from cell cycle arrest to transformation.