miR-23b targets proline oxidase, a novel tumor suppressor protein in renal cancer.

Proline oxidase (POX) is a novel mitochondrial tumor suppressor that can suppress proliferation and induce apoptosis through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreasing hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) signaling. Recent studies have shown the absence of expression of POX in human cancer tissues, including renal cancer. However, the mechanism for the loss of POX remains obscure. No genetic or epigenetic variation of POX gene was found. In this study, we identified the upregulated miR-23b in renal cancer as an important regulator of POX. Ectopic overexpression of miR-23b in normal renal cells resulted in striking downregulation of POX, whereas POX expression increased markedly when endogenous miR-23b was knocked down by its antagomirs in renal cancer cells. Consistent with the POX-mediated tumor suppression pathway, these antagomirs induced ROS, inhibited HIF signaling and increased apoptosis. Furthermore, we confirmed the regulation of miR-23b on POX and its function in the DLD1 Tet-off POX cell system. Using a luciferase reporter system, we verified the direct binding of miR-23b to the POX mRNA 3'-untranslated region. In addition, pairs of human renal carcinoma and normal tissues showed a negative correlation between miR-23b and POX protein expression, providing its clinical corroboration. Taken together, our results suggested that miR-23b, by targeting POX, could function as an oncogene; decreasing miR-23b expression may prove to be an effective way of inhibiting kidney tumor growth.

Nitric oxide prodrug JS-K inhibits ubiquitin E1 and kills tumor cells retaining wild-type p53.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a major effector molecule in cancer prevention. A number of studies have shown that NO prodrug JS-K (O(2)-(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-[(4-ethoxycarbonyl)piperazin-1-yl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate) induces apoptotic cell death in vitro and in vivo, indicating that it is a promising new therapeutic for cancer. However, the mechanism of its tumor-killing activity remains unclear. Ubiquitin plays an important role in the regulation of tumorigenesis and cell apoptosis. Our earlier report has shown that inactivation of the ubiquitin system through blocking E1 (ubiquitin-activating enzyme) activity preferentially induces apoptosis in p53-expressing transformed cells. As E1 has an active cysteine residue that could potentially interact with NO, we hypothesized that JS-K could inactivate E1 activity. E1 activity was evaluated by detecting ubiquitin-E1 conjugates through immunoblotting. JS-K strikingly inhibits the ubiquitin-E1 thioester formation in cells in a dose-dependent manner with an IC(50) of approximately 2 microM, whereas a JS-K analog that cannot release NO did not affect these levels in cells. Moreover, JS-K decreases total ubiquitylated proteins and increases p53 levels, which is mainly regulated by ubiquitin and proteasomal degradation. Furthermore, JS-K preferentially induces cell apoptosis in p53-expressing transformed cells. These findings indicate that JS-K inhibits E1 activity and kills transformed cells harboring wild-type p53.

Serine-phosphorylated STAT1 is a prosurvival factor in Wilms' tumor pathogenesis.

Wilms' tumor (WT), one of the most common pediatric solid cancers, arises in the developing kidney as a result of genetic and epigenetic changes that lead to the abnormal proliferation and differentiation of the metanephric blastema. As activation of signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) plays an important role in the maintenance/growth and differentiation of the metanephric blastema, and constitutively activated STATs facilitate neoplastic behaviors of a variety of cancers, we hypothesized that dysregulation of STAT signaling may also contribute to WT pathogenesis. Accordingly, we evaluated STAT phosphorylation patterns in tumors and found that STAT1 was constitutively phosphorylated on serine 727 (S727) in 19 of 21 primary WT samples and two WT cell lines. An inactivating mutation of S727 to alanine reduced colony formation of WT cells in soft agar by more than 80% and induced apoptosis under conditions of growth stress. S727-phosphorylated STAT1 provided apoptotic resistance for WT cells via upregulation of expression of the heat-shock protein (HSP)27 and antiapoptotic protein myeloid cell leukemia (MCL)-1. The kinase responsible for STAT1 S727 phosphorylation in WT cells was identified based upon the use of selective inhibitors as protein kinase CK2, not p38, MAP-kinase kinase (MEK)1/2, phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase, protein kinase C or Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). The inhibition of CK2 blocked the anchorage-independent growth of WT cells and induced apoptosis under conditions of growth stress. Our findings suggest that serine-phosphorylated STAT1, as a downstream target of protein kinase CK2, plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of WT and possibly other neoplasms with similar STAT1 phosphorylation patterns.

Secreted Frizzled-related proteins can regulate metanephric development.

Wnt-4 signaling plays a critical role in kidney development and is associated with the epithelial conversion of the metanephric mesenchyme. Furthermore, secreted Frizzled-related proteins (sFRPs) that can bind Wnts are normally expressed in the developing metanephros, and function in other systems as modulators of Wnt signaling. sfrp-1 is distributed throughout the medullary and cortical stroma in the metanephros, but is absent from condensed mesenchyme and primitive tubular epithelia of the developing nephron where wnt-4 is highly expressed. In contrast, sfrp-2 is expressed in primitive tubules. To determine their role in kidney development, recombinant sFRP-1, sFRP-2 or combinations of both were applied to cultures of 13-dpc rat metanephroi. Both tubule formation and bud branching were markedly inhibited by sFRP-1, but concurrent sFRP-2 treatment restored some tubular differentiation and bud branching. sFRP-2 itself showed no effect on cultures of metanephroi. In cultures of isolated, induced rat metanephric mesenchymes, sFRP-1 blocked events associated with epithelial conversion (tubulogenesis and expression of lim-1, sfrp-2 and E-cadherin); however, it had no demonstrable effect on early events (compaction of mesenchyme and expression of wt1). As shown herein, sFRP-1 binds Wnt-4 with considerable avidity and inhibits the DNA-binding activity of TCF, an effector of Wnt signaling, while sFRP-2 had no effect on TCF activation. These observations suggest that sFRP-1 and sFRP-2 compete locally to regulate Wnt signaling during renal organogenesis. The antagonistic effect of sFRP-1 may be important either in preventing inappropriate development within differentiated areas of the medulla or in maintaining a population of cortical blastemal cells to facilitate further renal expansion. On the other hand, sFRP-2 might promote tubule formation by permitting Wnt-4 signaling in the presence of sFRP-1.

TGF beta 2, LIF and FGF2 cooperate to induce nephrogenesis.

The metanephric kidney develops from interactions between the epithelial ureteric bud and adjacent metanephric mesenchyme, which is induced by the bud to form the epithelia of the nephron. We have found that leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and transforming growth factor beta 2 (TGF beta 2) are secreted by inductive rat bud cells and cooperate to enhance and accelerate renal tubule formation in uninduced rat metanephric mesenchymal explants. LIF alone or TGF beta 2 with fibroblast growth factor 2 induced numerous tubules in isolated mesenchymes over an 8 day period, while (in combination) all three caused abundant tubule formation in 72 hours. Furthermore, neutralization of Wnt ligands with antagonist-secreted Frizzled-related protein 1 abrogated these responses and combinatorial cytokine/growth factor stimulation of explants augmented nuclear activation of Tcf1/Lef1, suggesting that LIF and TGF beta 2/FGF2 cooperate to regulate nephrogenesis through a common Wnt-dependent mechanism.

Activation of neu by missense point mutation in the transmembrane domain in schwannomas induced in C3H/HeNCr mice by transplacental exposure to N-nitrosoethylurea.

Transplacentally initiated schwannomas in mice and rats arise preferentially in the Gasserian ganglion of the trigeminal nerve and spinal root ganglia, while those of the Syrian golden hamster most commonly occur subcutaneously. Rat and hamster schwannomas almost invariably contain a mutationally activated neu oncogene. In rat schwannomas, the mutant allele predominates, while the relative abundance of mutant alleles is very low in hamster nerve tumors. We investigated whether neu is mutated in mouse schwannomas and whether the pattern and allelic ratio of the mutation resemble those for the hamster or the rat. Pregnant C3H/HeNCr mice received 0.4 micromol N-nitrosoethylurea/g body weight on day 19 of gestation. Ten trigeminal and one peripheral nerve schwannomas developed in 11 of the 201 offspring. Missense T --> A transversion mutations were detected in the neu transmembrane domain in eight of ten schwannomas analyzed, as determined by MnlI digestion of polymerase chain reaction products. The mutant allele was predominantly detected in two tumors and was abundant in six others. Transfection of eight out of ten mouse tumor DNAs into hamster cells yielded transformed foci; seven out of eight contained mutant mouse neu. Mouse schwannomas closely resembled those of rats both in the preferred anatomical site and in the mutant/wild-type neu allele ratios.

neu mutation in schwannomas induced transplacentally in Syrian golden hamsters by N-nitrosoethylurea: high incidence but low allelic representation.

Peripheral nerve tumors (PNT) and melanomas induced transplacentally on day 14 of gestation in Syrian golden hamsters by N-nitrosoethylurea were analyzed for activated oncogenes by the NIH 3T3 transfection assay, and for mutations in the neu oncogene by direct sequencing, allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization, MnlI restriction-fragment-length polymorphism, single-strand conformation polymorphism, and mismatch amplification mutation assays. All (67/67) of the PNT, but none of the melanomas, contained a somatic missense T --> A transversion within the neu oncogene transmembrane domain at a site corresponding to that which also occurs in rat schwannomas transplacentally induced by N-nitrosoethylurea. In only 2 of the 67 individual hamster PNT did the majority of tumor cells appear to carry the mutant neu allele, in contrast to comparable rat schwannomas in which it overwhelmingly predominates. The low fraction of hamster tumor cells carrying the mutation was stable through multiple transplantation passages. In the hamster, as in the rat, specific point-mutational activation of the neu oncogene thus constitutes the major pathway for induction of PNT by transplacental exposure to an alkylating agent, but the low allelic representation of mutant neu in hamster PNT suggests a significant difference in mechanism by which the mutant oncogene acts in this species.

Deficient expression of mRNA for the putative inductive factor bone morphogenetic protein-7 in chemically initiated rat nephroblastomas.

Wilms' tumor, or nephroblastoma, arises from metanephric blastema and caricatures renal organogenesis. An alteration in at least one of the genes involved in control of renal differentiation is therefore a likely event in tumorigenesis, and indeed some of the genes involved in renal development, for example, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor c-met, the transcription factor Wilms' tumor gene (WT1), and transforming growth factor-beta family member bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-7, have also been implicated in various models of tumorigenesis. In a comparison of mRNA expression patterns for these genes in normal rat embryonic or fetal kidney and nephroblastoma, we found that the patterns for HGF, met, and WT1 detected by in situ hybridization or ribonuclease protection assay (RPA) in the nephroblastomas were similar to those of normal developing kidney. BMP-7 expression, on the other hand, was lower in most tumors examined both by in situ hybridization and RPA than in normal tissues. This deficiency in a defined inductive factor that has been shown to function in renal tubulogenesis may play a role in tumorigenesis by allowing the accumulation of blastemal populations typical of nephroblastomas.

Epidermal growth factor and transforming growth factor-alpha-associated overexpression of cyclin D1, Cdk4, and c-Myc during hepatocarcinogenesis in Helicobacter hepaticus-infected A/JCr mice.

Helicobacter hepaticus is a new bacterial species that is homologous to Helicobacter pylori, a human gastric carcinogen. H. hepaticus causes chronic active hepatitis, with progression to hepatocellular tumors. We hypothesized that chronic up-regulation of epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor-alpha, and nuclear oncogenes (cyclin D1 and c-Myc), all known to transform by overexpression, might contribute to tumorigenesis. Livers from mice that were 6-18 months old were analyzed, including nonneoplastic and preneoplastic tissues and tumors, along with age-matched controls, by immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting. EGF and transforming growth factor-alpha were increased at the earliest stage, with a further increase in EGF in tumors. Cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase 4, and c-Myc were strongly increased in all infected livers, with even greater increases in tumors. An increase in cyclin D1/cyclin-dependent kinase 4 complex was also demonstrated in tumors, and its functionality was confirmed by an increase in the hyperphosphorylated:hypophosphorylated retinoblastoma protein ratio. Our findings suggest a possible cooperation of growth factors, cell cycle proteins, and transcription factors during the development of H. hepaticus-associated liver tumors and may have relevance to human cancers associated with bacterial, viral, or parasitic infections.

Polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis for the VHL gene in chemically induced kidney tumors of rats using intron-derived primers.

von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene mutations occur throughout three exons including the exon-intron boundaries in human VHL disease-associated and sporadic renal cell carcinomas. To explore the possible role of the VHL gene in chemically induced rat kidney tumors originating from various cell types, more than 150 bp of Fischer 344 and Noble rat VHL intron sequences flanking the three exons was determined by dideoxy sequencing. Five primer sets were selected for polymerase chain reaction amplification of the coding regions of rat VHL exons 1-3 and the exon-intron boundaries. Tissues from 10 renal eosinophilic epithelial tumors induced by N-nitrosoethyl(2-hydroxyethyl)amine, 10 nephroblastomas induced by N-nitroso-N-ethylurea, and seven renal mesenchymal tumors induced by N-nitrosomethyl(methoxymethyl)amine were examined for VHL mutations by polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis. No mutation was detected in any tumor type, indicating that VHL mutations are not involved in the pathogenesis of rat kidney tumors arising from the distal region of the renal tubules, the metanephric blastema, or stromal tissues of the cortex.

Conditioned medium from a rat ureteric bud cell line in combination with bFGF induces complete differentiation of isolated metanephric mesenchyme.

Differentiation of metanephric mesenchyme is triggered by an inductive signal(s) from the epithelial ureteric bud. As a result of this induction, most of the metanephric mesenchyme converts into epithelium of a nephron. We have developed and characterized an explant culture system, in which metanephric mesenchyme can grow and completely differentiate in vitro in the absence of an inductive tissue. When separated 13 dpc rat metanephric mesenchymes were cultured in serum-free conditioned medium from a rat ureteric bud cell line (RUB1) in the presence of bFGF and TGFalpha, they were induced to differentiate into nephron epithelia and glomeruli-like structures. The nephric type of differentiation was confirmed by both morphological and molecular criteria and paralleled the developmental changes of nephron differentiation in vivo. Expression patterns of brush-border antigen as well as molecular markers of kidney differentiation Wt1, Lim1, Hgf and c-met, c-ret, Shh, Wnt4, Wnt7b, and Wnt11 were analyzed in explants by whole mount and tissue section in situ hybridization following 1-9 days in culture. The expression of secreted patterning molecules Bmp7 and Wnt7b, but not Shh or Wnt11, were demonstrated by RT-PCR and northern blot hybridization with RNA from the RUB1 cells. Our culture system lends itself to examining the relevance of these and other signaling molecules required for nephron differentiation.

Variant mutational activation of the K-ras oncogene in renal mesenchymal tumors induced in newborn F344 rats by methyl(methoxymethyl)nitrosamine.

Renal mesenchymal tumors were induced at high incidence in F344 rats by a single intraperitoneal injection of methyl(methoxymethyl)nitrosamine (DMN-OMe) within 48 h after birth. DNAs from 18 of 35 mesenchymal tumors contained transforming ras sequences in NIH3T3 transfection assays: K-ras (17/18) or N-ras (1/18). Single-stranded conformational polymorphism analysis or dideoxy sequencing of polymerase chain reaction-amplified K-ras gene fragments revealed that these neoplasms contained a variety of activating mutations in the K-ras oncogene. Alterations in codon 12 predominated and included GGT --> GAT transitions, GGT --> GTT or TGT transversions, and previously reported insertion mutations, although some tumors expressed more than one mutation and the pattern of mutations even varied within tumors. Mutations were also found in exons 2 and 3. In addition, tumor transplantability into syngeneic hosts correlated positively and significantly with K-ras activation. Renal mesenchymal tumors with transforming mutations in exon 1 were often successfully passaged (10/12) while tumors which lacked mutations in exon 1 were infrequently transplantable (2/14). While the observed base substitutions in K-ras are consistent with adduct formation, the presence of insertion mutations and intratumor heterogeneity of alterations suggest that ras activation in DMN-OMe-induced tumors is not necessarily an early event in tumorigenesis.

[Oncogene neu in spontaneous and induced rat schwannomas: a study using polymerase chain reaction]. / Onkogen neu v spontannykh i indutsirovannykh shvannomakh krys: issledovanie s pomoshch'iu polimeraznoi tsepnoi reaktsii.

Ethylnitrosourea (ENU) given transplacentally to rats induces schwannomas of the cranial, spinal and peripheral nerves with a high frequency of mutation in the neu proto-oncogene. To establish the requirement for such mutation in tumorigenesis of Schwann cells, spontaneous schwannomas from BD-VI strain rats were evaluated for transforming mutations in the transmembrane domain of the encoded protein for the neu proto-oncogene. Whereas all five schwannomas induced by ENU showed T/A transversions in codon 2012 of neu oncogene upon analysis by selective oligonucleotide hybridization and dideoxy sequencing of polymerize chain reaction amplified products from paraffin sections, only one of nine spontaneous schwannomas from untreated rats exhibited the same mutation. Examination of tumours for mutation in codon 12 of Ki-ras proto-oncogene revealed normal alleles. Our conclusions based on these data are that the high frequency of mutations in neu in ENU-induced tumours appears to be attributable to the carcinogen or to the period of development at which exposure occurred, and that transforming mutations of the transmembrane domain of neu, are not required for tumorigenesis of the Schwann cell.

Basic fibroblast growth factor can mediate the early inductive events in renal development.

The earliest characterized events during induction of tubulogenesis in renal anlage include the condensation or compaction of metanephrogenic mesenchyme with the concurrent upregulation of WT1, the gene encoding the Wilms tumor transcriptional activator/suppressor. We report that basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) can mimic the early effects of an inductor tissue by promoting the condensation of mesenchyme and inhibiting the tissue degeneration associated with the absence of an inductor tissue. By in situ hybridization, FGF2 was also found to mediate the transcriptional activation of WT1 and of the hepatocyte growth factor receptor gene, c-met. Although FGF2 can induce these early events of renal tubulogenesis, it cannot promote the epithelial conversion associated with tubule formation in metanephrogenic mesenchyme. For this, an undefined factor(s) from pituitary extract in combination with FGF2 can cause tubule formation in uninduced mesenchyme. These findings support the concept that induction in kidney is a multiphasic process that is mediated by more than a single comprehensive inductive factor and that soluble molecules can mimic these inductive activities in isolated uninduced metanephrogenic mesenchyme.

Activation of the K-ras gene by insertion mutations in chemically induced rat renal mesenchymal tumors.

Previously we reported the detection of transforming K-ras sequences in methyl(methoxymethyl)nitrosamine (DMN-OMe)-induced rat renal mesenchymal tumors by NIH3T3 transfection assays. Subsequent analysis by selective oligonucleotide hybridization revealed a variety of activating point mutations in codon 12 of K-ras in most of these tumors and in their NIH3T3 transformants, but in some, point mutations could not be detected by this technique. In the current study, insertion mutations were detected in two DMN-OMe-induced tumors from this group with previously undefined transforming K-ras alterations. These primary tumors and their NIH3T3 transformants contained K-ras sequences with either a 9 bp or a 12 bp repeat in exon one, both of which included codon 12. No other mutations in the entire coding region of the K-ras gene were observed. Site-directed mutagenesis studies by others have determined that deletions and insertions near codon 12 can activate the ras gene, but this is the first demonstration of insertional activation of K-ras in a chemically induced rat tumor.

Infrequent transforming mutations in the transmembrane domain of the neu oncogene in spontaneous rat schwannomas.

Ethylnitrosourea (ENU) given transplacentally to rats induces schwannomas of the cranial, spinal, and peripheral nerves, with a high frequency of mutations in the neu proto-oncogene. To establish the requirement for such mutations in tumorigenesis of the Schwann cell, spontaneous schwannomas from BD-VI rats were evaluated for transforming mutations in the transmembrane domain of the protein encoded by the neu proto-oncogene. While all five schwannomas induced transplacentally with ENU were shown to contain T-->A transversions in base 2012 of neu by selective oligonucleotide hybridization and dideoxy sequencing of polymerase chain reaction-amplified products from paraffin sections, only one of nine spontaneous schwannomas from untreated rats had the same mutation. Examination of tumors for mutations in codon 12 of Ki-ras revealed normal alleles. Therefore, the high frequency of mutations in neu in ENU-induced tumors may be directly attributable to the carcinogen or to the period of development at which exposure occurred, and transforming mutations of the transmembrane domain of neu are not required for tumorigenesis of the Schwann cell.

Low frequency of H-ras activation in naturally occurring hepatocellular tumors of C3H/HeNCr mice.

Previous reports from several laboratories have consistently shown that approximately 30% of spontaneous hepatocellular adenomas and 70-80% of spontaneous hepatocellular carcinomas found in aged B6C3F1 [C57BL/6 (liver tumor resistant) x C3H (liver tumor susceptible)] male mice contain one of three missense point mutations in codon 61 of the H-ras oncogene, CAA-->AAA, CGA or CTA. Irrespective of subline, the C3H mouse, the paternal parent strain of the B6C3F1 hybrid, is more susceptible to spontaneous liver tumorigenesis than the B6C3F1 mouse. However, the role of H-ras in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular tumors in C3H mice is less clear, as widely different frequencies of activation of this gene, but by the same point mutations in codon 61, have been reported by various laboratories. The present study was undertaken to characterize H-ras involvement in hepatocellular tumors of aged C3H/He mice from the NCI-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center Colony (C3H/HeNCr). Oncogene activation was evaluated in 45 C3H/HeNCr hepatocellular tumors by the NIH 3T3 transfection assays, and point mutations in the H-ras oncogene were detected and characterized in DNA fragments amplified by PCR, using dot blot hybridization analysis with mutation-specific oligonucleotide probes and direct dideoxy sequencing of PCR products. The only transforming gene detected in these tumors by NIH 3T3 transfection was H-ras. Only 17% (1/6) of spontaneous carcinomas and 8% (3/39) of spontaneous adenomas contained transforming H-ras sequences, each with a point mutation in codon 61. In all four cases with H-ras mutations, mutated sequences comprised a minor fraction of total H-ras gene copies in DNA extracted from primary tumors. H-ras mutations thus appear to have arisen relatively late in the pathogenesis of the neoplasms. For comparison, sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded hepatocellular tumors that occurred in untreated B6C3F1 hybrid mice sired by C3H/HeNCr males were assayed for the same H-ras mutations by PCR and dot blot hybridization. Nine of 13 such tumors (4/6 carcinomas, 5/7 adenomas) were positive. The overall difference in frequency of H-ras codon 61 mutations in hepatocellular tumors in C3H/HeNCr (4/45) versus B6C3F1 (9/13) was highly significant (P = 0.000035, Fisher's exact test). These data indicate that point mutations in H-ras do not generally play a major or an initiating role in spontaneous hepatocarcinogenesis of inbred C3H/HeNCr mice and contrast with the high rate of ras mutations in liver tumors of the B6C3F1 hybrid.

GGT to GTT transversions in codon 12 of the K-ras oncogene in rat renal sarcomas induced with nickel subsulfide or nickel subsulfide/iron are consistent with oxidative damage to DNA.

Nickel is a toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic metal of significant occupational and environmental concern. Although several cellular targets of nickel have been identified, considerable evidence suggests that it can act indirectly upon DNA by inducing the formation of oxidized purines or pyrimidines that constitute promutagenic lesions. In this study, we examined nickel subsulfide (Ni3S2)- or Ni3S2/iron-induced renal sarcomas in F344 rats for the presence of transforming mutations in the K-ras oncogene. Selective oligonucleotide hybridization analysis of K-ras gene sequences amplified by polymerase chain reaction revealed that 1 of 12 primary tumors induced with Ni3S2 and 7 of 9 primary tumors induced with Ni3S2/iron contained exclusively GGT to GTT activating mutations in codon 12. These mutations are consistent with the known ability of nickel, in the presence of an oxidizing agent, to catalyze formation of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, which in turn promotes misincorporation of dATP opposite the oxidized guanine residue. The presence of GGT to GTT transversions was confirmed by direct sequencing of the polymerase chain reaction products. Sequencing also revealed that there were no transforming mutations in codons 13 or 59-61. Additionally, a direct correlation between shortened tumor latency and the presence of activating ras mutations was noted. These results show that, in rat kidney, Ni3S2 can induce transforming mutations that are consistent with the ability of nickel to produce oxidative lesions and that iron, which exacerbates the extent of cellular oxidative damage, can enhance the frequency of these transforming mutations.

Activating point mutation in Ki-ras codon 63 in a chemically induced rat renal tumor.

Renal mesenchymal tumors induced in F344 rats with methyl(methoxymethyl)nitrosamine (DMN-OMe) have previously been shown by our laboratory to contain transforming Ki-ras sequences, activated most commonly by a variety of codon 12 mutations. Further sequence analysis of the one DMN-OMe-induced tumor with transforming Ki-ras sequences detected by NIH 3T3 transfection assay but with no mutation in codon 12 detected by selective oligonucleotide hybridization has now revealed an activating point mutation in codon 63. The observed GAG----AAG transition in codon 63, which replaces glutamic acid with lysine, was the only detectable mutation in exon 1 and 2 hotspot regions of Ki-ras in this tumor. The same mutation was also detected in Ki-ras sequences derived from first- and second-cycle transformants in NIH 3T3 transfection assays. Although random mutagenesis studies of cloned Ha-ras sequences by Fasano et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 81:4008-4012, 1984) had already indicated that GAG----AAG mutations in codon 63 of ras are transforming, this is the first demonstration of the natural occurrence of this particular activating mutation in a tumor.