Cell immortalization as a key, rate-limiting event in malignant transformation: approaches toward a molecular genetic analysis.

ABSTRACT

Recent advances using somatic cell genetic approaches have provided a convincing body of evidence that the senescence of mammalian cells in culture is controlled by a small group of genes, one or more of which are functionally deleted in the process of immortalization. Microcell-mediated mono-chromosomal transfer methods should permit precise mapping of these genes to specific chromosomal regions. Cloning of senescence genes, using either conventional 'positional cloning' techniques or retroviral insertion mutagenesis, is now a realistic possibility. The leap in our understanding of the molecular genetic events driving the alternative cellular states of limited proliferative capacity and immortality, which such advances should precipitate, will finally permit the question of the role of cell immortalization in cancer to be addressed, and may open the door to the design of new modes of cancer therapy. In addition, the precise mechanism underlying the wide difference in transformability between human and rodent cells, which should also emerge from these investigations, is likely to make a significant contribution towards resolving the key issue of the relevance of rodent tumour induction assays in assessing the potential carcinogenicity of environmental chemicals.