Increased expression of myc-related oncogene mRNA characterizes most BALB/c plasmacytomas induced by pristane or Abelson murine leukemia virus

RNA blots of poly(A)-containing RNA from normal livers and spleens and from a number of transplantable hematopoietic and lymphoid BALB/c tumors, including early and late generation plasmacytomas, were hybridized with probes for four onc genes. abl RNA was abundant only in those tumors producing Abelson virus, bas RNA was found in approximately equal amounts in normal tissues and plasmacytomas, and myb RNA was absent in normal liver and plasmacytomas. Normal liver and spleen RNA showed faint traces of myc hybridization, but myc RNA was increased in most plasmacytomas. In one plasmacytoma, TEPC 1165, a particularly abundant amount of myc RNA was found, principally as a 3.5-kilobase band. In the other plasmacytomas, bands of 2.4- or 1.8-kilobase myc RNA were found. Southern blots of DNA from tumors that contained 2.4-kilobase or larger myc RNA showed myc hybridization to an EcoRI fragment of about 21 kilobase pairs, similar to the myc band in normal DNA. EcoRI digests of DNA from two tumors that expressed myc RNA of 1.8 kilobases showed an additional smaller myc band, suggesting that the myc gene is rearranged in these plasmacytomas. The basis for increased myc gene transcription in plasmacytomas is not understood, but the evidence suggests that different mechanisms may be operating in different plasmacytomas. Apparently, neither myc gene amplification nor myc gene rearrangement is required for increased myc transcription.