SUMMARYThe coding part of a murine interferon alpha (MuIFN-c0 gene was cloned into an expression plasmid containing the simian virus 40 early promoter and the rabbit ~-globin polyadenylation signal. This construct was transfected into Chinese hamster ovary cells, together with a plasmid containing the Ecogpt gene as a selection marker. Resulting colonies were assayed for constitutive interferon production and analysed for integration of MulFN-ct genes. There was no obvious correlation between the number of genes integrated and the amount of interferon produced. The highest producer, designated CHO-pSVIOEF-3, contained four copies of the mouse gene and constitutively secreted up to 100000 International Units of interferon per ml per day. The MulFN-ct subspecies produced by this clone was characterized by analysis of its antiviral activity on heterologous cells, heparin-Sepharose affinity chromatography and chromatofocusing. The results obtained indicate that it is identical or closely related to a minor component present in conventional MulFN-~ preparations.

An activating mutation has been recently observed in cutaneous melanoma in a downstream component of RAS-BRAF. The most common mutation, occurring in 80% of cutaneous melanoma samples, is a T-to-A transition resulting in a single amino acid substitution (V599E). Since cutaneous and uveal melanoma (UM) have a common origin, we aimed to establish whether activation of the BRAF proto-oncogene is also an important factor in the development of UM. Exons 11 through 18 of the BRAF gene were screened from 33 primary UMs and 11 UM cell lines. Genomic polymerase chain reaction products were evaluated using single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, followed by sequencing of aberrant products. The most common mutation, T1796A in the kinase domain of BRAF, was not observed in any of the primary UM samples. This mutation was also absent in 10 of the 11 UM cell lines. In one of the UM cell lines, OCM1, the T1796A mutation was present. We conclude that, in contrast to cutaneous melanoma, BRAF does not appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of UM.