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T D Tlsty

Publications and source records attributed to T D Tlsty.

47 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Increased incidence of CAD gene amplification in tumorigenic rat lines as an indicator of genomic instability of neoplastic cells.

It has been hypothesized that genomic instability is an important component of tumorigenesis. In an attempt to establish this relationship, we determined the frequencies with which two nontumorigenic and four tumorigenic rat liver epithelial cell lines underwent a particular type of genetic instability, gene amplification. By exposing cells to N-(phosphonoacetyl)-L-aspartate (PALA), a drug which specifically inhibits the aspartate transcarbamylase activity of the multifunctional CAD enzyme and selects for amplification of the CAD gene, we observed a striking parallel between the ability of these cell lines to become resistant to this drug and the ability of these same cells to form tumors after injection into day-old syngeneic rats. Cells of one highly tumorigenic line became resistant to PALA greater than 70 times more often than those of a non-tumorigenic line. Molecular analyses of eight independent PALA-resistant subclones confirmed that, in each case, this resistance was due to amplification of the CAD gene. Thus, our results demonstrate the relationship between tumorigenicity and at least one measure of genomic instability, CAD gene amplification. The method developed in this study provides a quantitative, rapid indicator of tumorigenicity and should prove useful in trying to elucidate the underlying basis of genomic instability in neoplastic cells.

Animals↗

Differences in the rates of gene amplification in nontumorigenic and tumorigenic cell lines as measured by Luria-Delbrück fluctuation analysis.

It has been hypothesized that genomic fluidity is an important component of tumorigenesis. Previous studies described the relationship between tumorigenicity and one marker for genomic fluidity, gene amplification. In this report, these studies are extended with the rat liver epithelial cell lines to show that: (i) the amplification in these cells arises in a spontaneous fashion in the population (i.e., the variants detected are not preexisting in the population), and (ii) the rate of spontaneous amplification (mutation), as measured by Luria-Delbrück fluctuation analysis, is significantly lower in the nontumorigenic cells than in the tumorigenic cells. The rate was estimated by using the Po method and the method of means. The rate of spontaneous amplification of the gene encoding the multifunctional protein CAD (containing the enzymatic activities carbamoyl-phosphate synthase, aspartate transcarbamylase, and dihydroorotase) in the highly tumorigenic cells was significantly greater than that for the nontumorigenic cells, reaching almost 1 x 10(-4) events per cell per generation. The rate of this mutagenic event is high compared to the rate of point mutations usually reported in mammalian cells, and its potential contribution to the tumorigenic process will be discussed.

Animals↗

1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine enhancement of resistance to several antineoplastic drugs in mammalian tissue culture cells.

This report describes the enhancement of drug resistance by 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine at four individual loci and gene amplification at one locus in a hamster cell line. This drug has been used chemotherapeutically in the treatment of neoplasia and has documented effects on DNA synthesis. Our results in this paper demonstrate that the incidence of resistance to methotrexate, N-(phosphonoacetyl)-L-aspartate, and 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine was appreciably increased after pretreatment with 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine and they show that an increase in the incidence of gene amplification is one of the mechanisms by which drug resistance is increased. In contrast, the incidence of vincristine resistance was minimally enhanced by this drug. Possible reasons for this differential enhancement are discussed.

Animals↗

Gene amplification in the lac region of E. coli.

We have characterized strains of E. coli in which the lac region, together with varying amounts of surrounding DNA, is amplified 40 to 200 fold. The amplification events involve regions of 7 to 37 kb and result in a tandem array of repeated units. Restriction digest patterns of DNA from over 100 independent strains reveal that the amplified units are different in each case. Mechanisms of gene duplication and amplification, and the relationship of gene amplification in bacteria to that in eucaryotic cells, are considered.

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UV radiation facilitates methotrexate resistance and amplification of the dihydrofolate reductase gene in cultured 3T6 mouse cells.

Pretreatment of 3T6 murine cells with the carcinogen UV radiation or N-acetoxy-N-acetylaminofluorene increased the number of methotrexate-resistant colonies. This carcinogen-induced enhancement was seen only at low toxicities. The enhancement was transient and was observed at its maximum when cells were subjected to methotrexate selection 12 to 24 h after treatment. The addition of a tumor-promoting agent, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, during or after carcinogen treatment further enhanced this effect. A large proportion of the resistant colonies had an increase in the dihydrofolate reductase gene copy number and the relative proportions of colonies with amplified genes were similar, regardless of whether selected cells were untreated, treated with carcinogen, or treated with carcinogen plus promoter. We discuss some of the variables which both enhance the generation and improve the detection of methotrexate-resistant colonies, as well as certain implications of our results for the generation and mechanism of gene amplification.

Acetoxyacetylaminofluorene↗

Enhancement of methotrexate resistance and dihydrofolate reductase gene amplification by treatment of mouse 3T6 cells with hydroxyurea.

We investigated various parameters associated with the initial selection of mouse 3T6 cells for resistance to single concentrations of methotrexate and characterized resistant colonies for the presence of additional (amplified) copies of the dihydrofolate reductase gene. Our results indicate that the frequency of occurrence of dihydrofolate reductase gene amplification varies with the selecting concentration of methotrexate and is highly variable between clonally derived sublines of mouse 3T6 cells. Second, we increased the frequency of occurrence of cells with amplified dihydrofolate reductase genes by transiently inhibiting DNA synthesis with hydroxyurea before the selection of cells in single concentrations of methotrexate. This effect was dependent on the concentration of hydroxyurea, the time of exposure to the drug, and the time interval between the removal of hydroxyurea and the selection of cells in methotrexate.

Animals↗

The distribution of DNA repair synthesis in chromatin and its rearrangement following damage with N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene.

The distribution of DNA repair synthesis in the chromatin of confluent human diploid fibroblasts damaged with N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene has been studied. Kinetic analysis of staphylococcal nuclease digestion data revealed that initially most of the repair synthesis occurred in nuclease sensitive regions of chromatin. Continuous labeling experiments and pulse chase experiments indicated that with time much of the 3H dThd initially incorporated into nuclease sensitive regions during repair appeared in nuclease resistant regions. Agarose gel electrophoresis was used to demonstrate that these resistant regions were core DNA. In agreement with previous findings [Smerdon, M.J. and Lieberman, M.W., (1978), Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, in press], studies of the time course of this rearrangement and of repair synthesis revealed similar time dependences and suggested a relationship between rates of repair synthesis and chromatin rearrangement.

Acetoxyacetylaminofluorene↗

The inhibition of ribosomal RNA synthesis and maturation in Novikoff hepatoma cells by 5-fluorouridine.

The inhibition of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) maturation by 5-fluorouridine (FUrd) in Novikoff hepatoma cells appears to depend upon the incorporation of the analog into the 45 S rRNA precursor. Precursor synthesized in the presence of FUrd is not processed into mature rRNA, but precursor synthesized in the absence of the analog is processed normally after the addition of the drug. The effect of FUrd on rRNA maturation is concentration dependent. At a concentration of 1 X 10(-4)M, the analog completely inhibits the formation of mature 18 S and 28 S rRNA; while at a concentration of 1 X 10(-7)M, the analog has no significant effect on rRNA maturation. These results suggest that some minimum degree of analog substitution is necessary to inhibit the maturation process. In addition to its inhibition of maturation, FUrd also inhibits the transcription of 45 S rRNA precursor. However, this effect of the drug is less complete and more time dependent that the effect on maturation. The inhibition of rRNA maturation by FUrd persists after removal of the analog from the culture medium. Cells that had been exposed to FUrd for 2 hr were unable to process 45 S rRNA precursor 20 hr after removal of the drug from the medium.

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