Induction of cellular senescence by transfection of cytosolic mortalin cDNA in NIH 3T3 cells

Enhanced expression of multiple forms of VEGF is associated with spontaneous immortalization of murine fibroblasts

The mechanism(s) involved in immortalization that constitute the first step during malignant transformation has been the subject of our interest. By the use of spontaneously immortalized mouse embryonic fibroblasts we have earlier identified two stages of immortalization which are characterized by growth characteristics of the cells, their conditioned medium and the protein markers such as p53, p81 and mortalin (Kaul et al. (1994) Biochim. Biophys. Acta, in press). The present study was planned to purify the mitogenic factors from the conditioned medium of stage II cells. Sequential purification by chromatography followed by peptide sequencing has characterized one of these as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Further analysis by RT-PCR suggests that the spontaneously immortalized stage II fibroblasts have enhanced synthesis and secretion of VEGF as compared to their mortal parent cells. Expression of a novel 304 bp long form of VEGF is identified in immortal fibroblasts in addition to the three known alternatively spliced forms. The study points to the involvement of VEGF function during spontaneous immortalization of mouse embryonic fibroblasts.

Identification of genetic events involved in early steps of immortalization of mouse fibroblasts

The spontaneously immortalized early passaged fibroblasts from three different strains of mouse are observed to represent two distinct stages of immortalization. The cells at stage I are characterized by slow growth rate, contact inhibition and requisition of serum factors for their growth and proliferation. Stage II cells are marked by fast, multilayer growth that is independent of serum supplementation in growth medium and by the elevated levels of the two marker proteins, i.e., p53 and p81. The change from cytosolic distribution of mortalin, a senescence inducing protein (J. Biol. Chem. (1993) 268, 6615-6621; 22239-22242) to the perinuclear locale is detected as an early event during cellular immortalization. Furthermore, the distinct stages could be characterized by thermal analysis of intact cells, that to the best of our knowledge is employed for the first time for the analysis of cellular mortal and immortal phenotypes. The study characterizes at least two distinct end points in rodent transformation suggesting that there are multiple routes to immortalization.