Effect of malignant transformation upon the cellular retinoid binding proteins in cultured murine mammary cells

Cellular retinol (CRBP) and retinoic acid binding proteins (CRABP) were measured in normal (C57Bl) and Murine Mammary Tumor Virus (MuMTV)-induced murine mammary tumor cells (C57BlfRIII) grown in monolayer culture. High speed supernatant fractions (cytosols) from transformed cells contained elevated levels of CRBP and CRABP (0.276 and 1.410 pmol/mg protein, respectively) compared to cytosol from non-transformed murine mammary cells which contained only low levels of CRBP (0.099 pmol/mg protein). Our findings suggest that malignant transformation of mammary epithelial cells, induced by MuMTV infection, results in changes in the expression of cellular retinoid binding proteins and possibly in the sensitivity of these cells to various retinoids.