We have established an explant-cell culture system for mammary gland tumors from c-myc oncogene-expressing transgenic mice and potentially other transgenic strains. By coating culture dish surfaces with fetal bovine serum and using culture media supplemented with low serum and growth factors, the mammary tumor specimens could be maintained in culture for over 3 mo. Throughout the culture period, the explants produced abundant outgrowths of epithelial cells. As the outgrowths of epithelial cells filled the dishes, the explants were serially transferred from one dish to another-a process that could be repeated at least six times, thus providing a continuous supply of primary tumor cells. This culture system provides a useful tool for studying the biology of mouse mammary gland tumors and possibly tumors from other organ sites.

No abstract

The E6 and E7 genes of HPV-16 or HPV-18 both are necessary for effective immortalization of primary human genital keratinocytes. To analyse the individual role of E6 and E7 genes in dysregulating cell growth, we cloned the HPV-16 E6, E7 and E6/E7 genes into retroviruses. Primary human keratinocytes (PHK) were then infected with these retroviruses and selected in differentiation-inducing medium (high calcium and serum). The E6/E7 retroviruses were the most effective at inducing differentiation-resistant colonies. Intermediate numbers of colonies were induced by E6 and low numbers by E7. Interestingly, only cultures infected with E7 and E6/E7 retroviruses showed a significant proportion of cells progressing into the S phase, consistent with our earlier studies showing that E7 is required for the efficient immortalization of genital keratinocytes. Accompanying this entry into S phase, the E7 or E6/E7 transduced cells expressed high levels of cyclins A, B and E, but lower levels of cyclin D. In addition, cdc-2, cdk-2 and cdk-4 were also increased. No significant differences were detected in the expression of c-myc and c-fos between the vector and any of the transduced cells. Keratinocytes infected with the E7 retrovirus exhibited decreased levels of Rb protein and increased levels of p53, whereas cells infected with E6-expressing retroviruses displayed normal levels of Rb protein and decreased levels of p53. Finally, E7 induced a three-fold increase in bcl-2 expression. Our results indicate that the HPV-16 E7 gene alone is sufficient to bypass keratinoctye growth arrest induced by serum and calcium exposure and that the discordant expression of several cell regulatory proteins accompanies this unregulated proliferation.

We have transfected two strains of normal human epidermal keratinocytes, v and u, with a plasmid containing the HPV16 genome, and compared the growth and terminal differentiation capacity of the transfectants, vp and up, with the parental cells. vp and up contained integrated HPV16 DNA and expressed a number of viral mRNAs; unlike v and u, vp and up were aneuploid and had chromosomal alterations. Their growth rate was similar to the parental cells, although they reached a higher confluent density. In contrast to v and u, vp and up grew well in the absence of 3T3 feeders and after 14 months in culture have reached passage 60. vp and up contained desmosomes and keratin filaments, but their capacity for stratification was reduced, as were the proportions of cells expressing the terminal differentiation marker, involucrin. Involucrin mRNA levels in vp and up were lower than in the parental cells but increased after 24 h in suspension, as observed in the normal cells. u and v did not form colonies in soft agar, whereas up had a colony-forming efficiency of approximately 0.1% and vp of less than 0.1%. vp and up did not form tumours in nude mice; like the parental cells they formed cysts a week after injection, but the cysts were less well organized than those formed by v and u. In conclusion, we have obtained two lines of immortalized human keratinocytes that are not tumorigenic, but have a reduced capacity for terminal differentiation. The ability to compare matched parental and transfected cells offers considerable potential for further studies of the role of human papilloma viruses in carcinogenesis.

The E6/E7 oncoproteins of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 are responsible for the efficient immortalization of human genital keratinocytes and we have recently reported that such immortalized cells display alterations in the expression of cyclin A, cyclin B, and cdc-2. To determine whether these alterations were the consequence of E6/E7 protein expression or whether they resulted from the process of cellular immortalization, we multiply-infected primary genital keratinocytes with a retrovirus expressing the HPV-18 E6/E7 genes and examined the cells for acute, pre-immortalization changes in several critical cell growth regulatory proteins including cyclin A, cyclin B, cdc-2, p53 and c-myc. In addition, we simultaneously evaluated the expression of the E6/E7, bcl-2 and involucrin genes to determine whether there were accompanying alterations in the expression of viral genes or in cellular genes related to cell apoptosis and the state of keratinocyte differentiation. The cell cycle regulating proteins (cyclin A, cyclin B, cdc-2 and p53) change significantly within days after retroviral infection. Cyclin B and cdc-2 increase over 4-fold by three passages and remain relatively constant thereafter through passage 21, whereas the levels of p53 protein decrease 25% by passage three. Increases in the expression of cyclin A, cyclin B and cdc-2, and decreases in p53 are therefore among the earliest observable changes in cell regulatory proteins following E6/E7 gene expression and may be important contributors to the development of cell immortalization. The expressions of viral E6/E7 genes, c-myc, bcl-2 and involucrin exhibit progressive changes with increased passage numbers until passage 21, presumably reflecting the selective outgrowth of immortalized cells.