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Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Isolating Malignant and Non-Malignant B Cells from lck:eGFP Zebrafish
Published on: February 22, 2019
Linkage of Methionine Dependence and Other Features of Malignancy
Robert M Hoffman1,2, Richard W Erbe3,4
1AntiCancer, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA. all@anticancer.com.
Abstract:
Cancer cells have an elevated methionine (MET) requirement compared to normal cells and are termed MET dependent. Cancer cells were isolated in MET-restricted (MR) medium that reverted from MET dependence to MET independence. Increased MET biosynthesis was not a prerequisite for reversion to MET independence, indicating that MET dependence was not due to reduced endogenous MET synthesis. MET-independent revertants of cancer cells concomitantly reverted for some of the other properties associated with malignancy: Of the 13 MET-independent revertants isolated 5 showed increased anchorage dependence as reflected by reduced cloning efficiencies in methylcellulose; 8 showed an increased serum requirement for optimal growth; 8 showed decreased cell density in medium containing high serum; and 3 altered their cell morphology significantly. Eight of the 13 revertants have increased chromosome numbers. Thus, by selecting for MET independence, it is possible to obtain heterogeneous reduced-malignancy revertants, indicating further a relationship between altered MET metabolism and other fundamental properties of oncogenic transformation.
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