Transfection by human oncogenes: concomitant induction of tumorigenicity and tumor-associated membrane alterations

NIH 3T3 cells were transfected with DNA derived from human bladder carcinoma, colon carcinoma and HL60 promyelocytic leukemia cells. The transfectants were examined for the presence of human oncogenes in relation to tumorigenic potential and composition of surface-located fucosyl glycopeptides by gel filtration, Concanavalin-A-binding and high-performance liquid chromatography. All transfectants, harboring 3 different human cellular ras genes, appeared to be tumorigenic in nude mice and displayed characteristically altered glycopeptides. The surface glycopeptides were consistently changed to higher apparent molecular weight due to enrichment in higher-branched sialic-acid-containing glycopeptides. Similar alterations have been found previously in virally- and chemically-transformed cells in vitro and tumors raised in vivo, and were designated as cancer-related or tumor-associated glycopeptides. Revertants derived from HL60-DNA-induced transfectants, which had lost the transfected human N-ras oncogene, simultaneously lost their tumorigenic potential and expression of cancer-related membrane glycopeptides. In addition, spontaneous transformants, exhibiting morphology and growth patterns indistinguishable from those of tumor-DNA-induced transfectants, neither contained transferred human DNA sequences nor expressed cancer-related glycopeptides. Nevertheless these cells were capable, after prolonged latency periods, of inducing tumors in nude mice. Cells derived from such tumors constantly displayed cancer-related glycopeptides on their surface, suggesting selection of tumorigenic cells from spontaneous transformants during passage in nude mice. In one of these tumors at least, an endogenous mouse ras-gene appeared to be activated. The results indicate a close correlation between the presence of activated ras-oncogenes in the genome of the transfected cells, the tumorigenic potential of these cells and the expression of surface-located cancer-related glycopeptides. The data suggest that functions provided by human ras-oncogenes contribute to the alteration of membrane glycopeptides on tumor cells.