Activation of the Ki-ras protooncogene in spontaneously occurring and chemically induced lung tumors of the strain A mouse

Activation of protooncogenes in mouse lung tumors

The detection of activated protooncogenes in mouse lung tumors has led to a major advance in our understanding of carcinogenesis of the lung at the molecular level. A high frequency of activated K-ras protooncogenes has been detected in tetranitromethane (TNM)- and 1,3-butadiene-induced lung tumors in B6C3F1 mice. In the past several years, we have pursued protooncogene activation in spontaneous and chemically induced tumors of strain A mice. The strain A mouse has a high incidence of spontaneous lung tumors and is susceptible to tumor induction by chemical carcinogens. We have detected and characterized the activated protooncogenes in the DNA of both spontaneously occurring and chemically induced lung tumors of strain A mice. Activated K-ras genes were detected using the NIH/3T3 transfection assay, and the activating mutations were identified by utilizing the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequence analysis. A strong selectivity of mutations in the K-ras genes were observed in chemically induced lung tumors, as compared to spontaneous tumors, indicating that the carcinogens directly induced point mutations in the K-ras protooncogene. These findings suggest that the strain A mouse lung tumor model appears to be a very sensitive system to identify the mechanism by which chemical carcinogens activate the K-ras gene in lung tissue in vivo.

Mechanisms of glucocorticoid involvement in mouse lung tumorigenesis

This report examines a possible mechanism of mouse lung tumor prophylaxis by glucocorticoids (GC). Adrenalectomy (Ax) increased, and corticosterone replacement decreased, lung tumor multiplicity when treatment was begun before administration of the carcinogen, urethan. Ax increased the 3H-thymidine labeling index of alveolar epithelial cells. Tumor multiplicity was also enhanced when urethan was administered during the period of compensatory hyperplasia that occurred in response to lung injury induced by methylcylopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl. Thus, carcinogen-induced tumor development was amplified by stimulation of division of the target cell population. GC regulation of alveolar epithelial cell proliferation, and hence tumor susceptibility, may be mediated by the Ca++/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (PKC).The tumor-resistant strain, C57BL/6J, has greater adrenal corticosterone content, higher epithelial cell PKC activity, and lower alveolar epithelial cell proliferation than the tumor-susceptible strain, A/J. In vitro, GC inhibit proliferation of a lung epithelial-derived cell line and increase PKC activity in that cell line. Thus, we hypothesize that GC protect against lung tumor development by increasing PKC content in the epithelial cells from which lung tumors arise; increased intracellular PKC results in decreased epithelial proliferation, and reduces the probability of induction of tumorigenesis by urethan.

Activated protooncogenes in human lung tumors from smokers

Fourteen primary human lung tumor DNAs from smokers were analyzed for transforming activity by two DNA transfection assays. Activated protooncogenes were detected in 3 of 11 tumor DNAs by the NIH 3T3 focus assay, whereas activated protooncogenes were detected in 11 of 13 tumor DNAs by the NIH 3T3 cotransfection-nude mouse tumorigenicity assay. K- or NRAS genes activated by point mutation at codons 12 or 61 were detected in a large cell carcinoma, a squamous cell carcinoma, and 5 adenocarcinomas. An HRAS oncogene activated by a different mechanism was detected in an epidermoid carcinoma. One adenocarcinoma was found to contain an activated RAF gene. Two unidentified transforming genes were detected in a squamous cell carcinoma DNA and two adenocarcinoma DNAs. Eight of 10 lung adenocarcinomas that had formed metastases at the time of surgery were found to contain RAS oncogenes. No significant increase in metastasis was observed in the lung adenocarcinomas that contained one or more 6-kilobase EcoRI alleles of the LMYC gene. Overall, 12 of 14 (86%) of the lung tumor DNAs from smokers were found to contain activated protooncogenes. RAS oncogenes appear to play a role in the development of metastases in lung adenocarcinomas.

The molecular progression of plutonium-239-induced rat lung carcinogenesis: Ki-ras expression and activation

Specific, transforming point mutations of ras and alterations in ras expression have been associated with many neoplastic processes, and their presence may be pivotal in neoplastic transformation. Our objective were to evaluate the molecular and genetic alterations of Ki-ras in preneoplastic foci and neoplasms in the lungs of rats that inhaled 239PuO2 aerosols. Histologically classified pulmonary lesions were evaluated by in vitro nucleic acid amplification, oligonucleotide hybridization, and direct nucleic acid sequencing for activating Ki-ras point mutations. We evaluated ras expression in similar lesions using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Specific Ki-ras point mutations were present in 46% of the radiation-induced malignant neoplasms. Spontaneous pulmonary neoplasms, which are rare in rats, had similar activating mutations and frequencies (40%). We found similar mutation frequencies in radiation-induced adenomas and foci of alveolar epithelial hyperplasia. No mutations were identified in normal lung tissue. Ras expression in hyperplastic lesions and neoplasms was similar to that observed in normal pulmonary epithelia. These findings suggest that Ki-ras activation, not alterations in expression, is an early lesion associated with many radiation-induced, proliferative pulmonary lesions and that this molecular alteration may be an important component of both radiation-induced and spontaneous pulmonary carcinogenesis in the rat.

Covalent bonding of bay-region diol epoxides to nucleic acids

Although the solution chemistry of diol epoxides is now fairly well understood, a great deal remains to be elucidated regarding their reaction in the presence of DNA. Not only DNA but also small molecules are capable of sequestering diol epoxides in aqueous solutions with equilibrium constants on the order of 10(2)-10(4) M-1. In the case of DNA, at least two major families of complexes are presently recognized, possibly the result of groove binding vs. intercalation. As is the case for diol epoxides free in solution, the complexed diol epoxides undergo solvolysis to tetraols and in some cases possibly to keto diols as well. Fractionation between covalent bonding and solvolysis from within the complex(s) is determined more by the nature of the parent hydrocarbon from which the diol epoxide is derived than any other factor. Studies of a wide variety of alkylating and arylating agents have show that practically every potentially nucleophilic site on DNA can serve as a target for modification. In the case of the diol epoxides, practically all of the modification occurs at the exocyclic amino groups of the purine bases. In contrast to the diol epoxides, other epoxides such as those derived from aflatoxin B1, vinyl chloride, propylene, 9-vinylanthracene, and styrene preferentially bind to the aromatic ring nitrogens N-7 in guanine and N-3 in adenine (cf. Chadha et al., 1989). Molecular modeling as well as the spectroscopic evidence suggests that the hydrocarbon portion of the diol epoxides lies in the minor groove of DNA when bound to the exocyclic 2-amino group of guanine and in the major groove when bound to the exocyclic 6-amino group of adenine. Detailed conformational analysis of adducted DNA should prove to be extremely valuable in developing mechanistic models for the enzymatic processing of chemically altered DNA. At present, the critical lesion or lesions responsible for induction of neoplasia remains obscured by the large number of apparently noncritical adducts which form when polycyclic hydrocarbon diol epoxides bond to DNA.

Proto-oncogene activation in rodent and human tumors

The transformation of a normal cell into a tumorigenic cell involves both the activation and concerted expression of proto-oncogenes and inactivation of suppressor genes. The activation of ras proto-oncogenes represents one step in the multistep process of carcinogenesis for a variety of rodent and human tumors. This activation is probably an early event in tumorigenesis in many cases and may be the 'initiation' event in some cases. Thus, a chemical that induces rodent tumors by activation of ras proto-oncogenes can potentially invoke one step of the neoplastic process in humans exposed to the chemical. Moreover, dominant transforming oncogenes other than ras have been detected in human tumors as well as rodent tumors. The involvement of these putative proto-oncogenes in the development of neoplasia is unclear at present.

Mutational specificities of environmental carcinogens in the lacl gene of Escherichia coli H. V: DNA sequence analysis of mutations in bacteria recovered from the liver of Swiss mice exposed to 1,2-dimethylhydrazine, azoxymethane, and methylazoxymethanolacetate

The host-mediated assay (HMA) was used to determine the spectra of mutations induced in the lacl gene of Escherichia coli cells recovered from the livers of Swiss mice exposed to the carcinogens 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (SDMH), azoxymethane (AOM), and methylazoxymethanolacetate (MAMA). These spectra were further compared with changes induced by dimethylnitrosamine (DMNA) in the HMA methodology. A total of 177 independent lacl mutations arising in the HMA following exposure to SDMH, AOM, and MAMA were analyzed. Single-base substitutions accounted for 97% of all mutations analyzed. The vast majority of the single-base substitutions consisted of G:C----A:T transitions (94% of all mutations). The remaining mutations consisted of A:T----G:C transitions (3% of all mutations) while non-base substitutions accounted for only 3% of the total mutagenesis. The latter mutations consisted of one frameshift mutation and four lacO deletions. The distribution of G:C----A:T transitions induced by the three chemicals in the first 200 bp of the lacl gene was not random, but rather clustered at sites where a target guanine was flanked at the 5' site by a purine residue.

Analysis of ras gene mutations in rainbow trout liver tumors initiated by aflatoxin B1

The suspect human hepatocarcinogen aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a well-known potent initiator of hepatic tumors in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Both hepatocellular carcinomas and mixed hepatocellular/cholangiocellular carcinomas are induced by AFB1 in trout, with the mixed form predominating. We previously isolated two c-ras genes from trout liver cDNA, and in the present study we analyzed DNA from 14 AFB1-induced trout liver tumors for point mutations in exon 1 of both genes. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and oligonucleotide hybridization methods, a high proportion (10/14) of the AFB1-initiated tumor DNAs showed evidence of activating point mutations in the trout c-Ki-ras gene. Of the 10 mutant ras genotypes, seven were codon 12 GGA----GTA transversions, two were codon 13 GGT----GTT transversions, and one was codon 12 GGA----AGA transition. Nucleotide sequence analysis of cloned PCR products from four of these tumor DNAs provided definitive evidence for two codon 12 GGA----GTA mutations, one codon 12 GGA----AGA mutation, and one codon 13 GGT----GTT mutation, in complete agreement with the oligonucleotide hybridization results. No mutations were detected in exon 1 of a second trout ras gene also expressed in liver, nor in DNA from control livers. This is the first report of experimentally induced ras gene point mutations in a lower vertebrate fish model. The results indicate that the hepatocarcinogen AFB1 induces c-Ki-ras gene mutations in trout similar to those in rat liver tumors.

Lack of ecotropic virus involvement in induction of lymphomas in DBA/2J mice by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene

DBA/2 mice carry a single endogenous ecotropic murine leukemia provirus, Emv-3, that is replication defective because of a single nucleotide substitution in codon 3 of p15gag. However, when weanling DBA/2 mice are treated percutaneously with 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA), ecotropic virus replication is induced in almost all of the treated mice. Previous studies have shown that this induction results from DMBA-induced reverse mutations in codon 3 that allow efficient virus replication. In addition to ecotropic virus replication, DMBA also induces lymphomas in 100% of the treated mice. These results have raised the possibility that ecotropic virus replication is causally associated with the development of lymphomas in DBA/2 mice, perhaps via the insertional activation or mutation of cellular proto-oncogenes. To test this possibility, we compared lymphoma incidence after percutaneous DMBA treatment in DBA/2J-dv/dv mice, which carry two copies of Emv-3, with lymphoma incidence in DBA/2J-d+18J/d+18J mice, which lost both copies of Emv-3 by homologous recombination involving the long terminal repeat sequences. The results of this study conclusively demonstrated that Emv-3 is not causally associated with the development of DMBA-induced lymphomas in DBA/2J mice. Interestingly, histopathological and molecular analyses of the lymphomas indicated that the majority of the lymphomas in both strains of mice were of the B-cell lineage. This was unanticipated, since the majority of chemically induced lymphomas in other inbred strains are thymic lymphomas, presumably of the T-cell lineage. Thus, DBA/2 mice appear to present a unique model system for the investigation of chemically induced B-cell lymphomas in mice.

Activated Ki-ras proto-oncogene in spontaneously transformed and chemical tumor-derived cell lines related to the mouse lung alveologenic carcinoma

An in vitro cell model of mouse lung alveologenic carcinoma consisting of preneoplastic nonmalignant cells, spontaneously transformed cells, and urethane-induced malignant cells was analyzed for phenotypic and genotypic changes associated with the transition to neoplasia. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify the cDNA derived from the c-Ki-ras mRNA corresponding to exons 1 and 2 of the proto-oncogene. This approach allowed analysis of the gene transcription product rather than potentially unexpressed DNA. Direct sequencing of the PCR product identified a common single point mutation, alone or together with wild-type mRNA for c-Ki-ras, in all of the malignant clones. An A----G transition in the second base position of codon 61 was common to spontaneously malignant and chemical tumor-derived cell lines and to lines selected for lung metastatic behavior. The absence of the mutation in the nonmalignant cells suggests that the Ki-ras mutation may be a factor in onset or maintenance of the malignant phenotype and, at least in vitro, may be a late event in the transformation process.

Tissue-specific activating mutations of Ha- and Ki-ras oncogenes in skin, lung, and liver tumors induced in mice following transplacental exposure to DMBA

Transplacental carcinogenesis represents a good model in which to study the involvement of tissue-specific oncogene activation in carcinogenesis because a single exposure to a carcinogen induces tumors at various sites. We tested tumors of the skin, liver, and lung produced in mice after transplacental 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]-anthracene (DMBA) exposure for possible activation of ras genes. XbaI restriction fragment-length polymorphism analysis has shown that exposure to DMBA in utero may result in appearance of A----T transversion at the second position of codon 61 of Ha-ras oncogene in skin and liver tumors but not in lung tumors. Moreover, DNA samples isolated from spontaneous and DMBA-induced lung and liver tumors were analyzed for mutations at the same position of Ki-ras oncogene using differential hybridization with specific oligonucleotides. Among five spontaneous lung tumors, three cases of A----G transition, and one case of A----T transversion were found, whereas four of ten lung tumors of DMBA-treated animals were positive for A----T mutation. No Ki-ras mutation was detected in one spontaneous and four DMBA-induced hepatomas. In two cases, we revealed Ki-ras A----T mutation in the lung tumor and Ha-ras mutation in the liver tumor taken from the same animal. These results indicate first that DMBA treatment may induce A----T mutation at the second position of codon 61 both in Ha-ras and in Ki-ras and, second, that the role of different activated oncogenes in carcinogenesis may differ, depending on the tissue in which the tumor develops.

Specific Ki-ras codon 61 mutations may determine the development of urethan-induced mouse lung adenomas or adenocarcinomas

In A/J strain mice, the carcinogen urethan induces lung adenomas and adenocarcinomas that contain Ki-ras-activating mutations primarily in codon 61. These mutations affect the middle adenine in codon 61 resulting in the substitution of either arginine (AT----GC transition) or leucine (AT----TA transversion) for the wild-type glutamine. To analyze the expression of the wild-type and mutant Ki-ras mRNAs in primary mouse lung tumors and transformed mouse lung cell lines, we utilized reverse transcription of total mRNA and DNA amplification by the polymerase chain reaction. The wild-type allele of codon 61 was expressed in all normal lung and primary tumor samples and in all transformed cell lines, except one. Significantly, the leucine-substituted allele was expressed primarily in very small lung adenomas, whereas the arginine-substituted allele was expressed in large lung adenocarcinomas and transformed lung cell lines. The relative amounts of expression of the mutant versus wild-type Ki-ras alleles and the total Ki-ras mRNA expression was similar in both lung adenomas and adenocarcinomas. Further, the arginine mutant allele was present in adenocarcinomas having either alveolar or papillary tumor morphologies. These results suggest that the specific activating Ki-ras mutation is more critical to either lung adenoma or adenocarcinoma development than is the tumor's cell of origin or the extent to which the mutant alleles are expressed. A distinct role of the specific activating Ki-ras mutations in affecting lung tumor growth or malignant potential is indicated.

Ki-ras activation and expression in transformed mouse lung cell lines

The Ki-ras proto-oncogene is activated by specific point mutations and is the transforming gene often identified in rodent and human lung tumors. An in vitro model to aid in the study of the consequences of Ki-ras activation and expression in mouse lung is needed. Accordingly, we have examined cell lines derived from chemically induced mouse lung tumors as well as spontaneous transformants of untreated mouse lung epithelial cells. The specific Ki-ras-activating gene mutations and the level of mRNA expression were examined for each cell line. Polymerase chain reaction and oligonucleotide hybridization were used to demonstrate that five of seven transformed lung cell lines contain codon 61 Ki-ras-activating mutations, resulting in an arginine substitution for wild-type glutamine. One transformed line contained this activating mutation and had also lost, or contained an altered, wild-type codon 61 Ki-ras allele. No codon 12 Ki-ras mutations were observed. Two transformed and two nontransformed epithelial lung cell lines contained only the wild-type codon 12 and 61 Ki-ras alleles. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the Ki-ras mRNA was present in all the cell lines and was overexpressed in some, but not all, of the transformed lung cell lines. Those transformed lines with the highest levels of Ki-ras mRNA also expressed more H4-histone mRNA, suggesting that these cells have a greater proliferation rate. The level of Ki-ras mRNA increased during the proliferation of the nontransformed lung cells but then decreased upon reaching confluency. In contrast, the level of Ki-ras mRNA in the transformed lung cells was high during both growth and confluency, suggesting a potential defect in the regulation of Ki-ras in these cells. These lung cell lines will help provide a better understanding of the regulation of both the Ki-ras proto-oncogene and oncogene in the lung.

Human carcinogens so far identified

The massive exploitation of natural resources, of which tobacco and asbestos are two conspicuous, though very different examples, and the synthesis of industrial chemicals have generated new hazards and new carcinogens which have been added to older ones. The majority of the over 50 agents that have been firmly identified so far as being human carcinogens belong to the relatively new hazards, that is environmental chemicals or chemical mixtures to which humans have been exposed only during the last century and a half. They are of more importance for cancer occurring in men than in women, and there is no evidence so far that they are related to cancers occurring at some of the most common target sites in either sex. It would be mistaken to believe that complete cancer prevention could be achieved solely by controlling these new, or relatively new, carcinogenic agents, but it would be similarly wrong to deny the importance of trying to control them and of continuing to do so. The experimental approach for the identification of carcinogens has an irreplaceable role to play in preventing the dispersal into our environment of new hazards and in identifying among the chemicals already in use, those that are carcinogenic. That a closer integration between the epidemiological and the experimental approaches may succeed in substantially reducing the size of the unknown region within the spectrum of cancer-causing factors, is today's hope that awaits confirmation. At the same time, advances in the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the different steps of the process leading to the clinical manifestation of cancer may help in the uncovering of agents and risk factors that the approaches used, at least in the way they have been used until now, may not have been apt to identify.