Insertion of the v-Ha-ras oncogene induces differentiation of calcitonin-producing human small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Human small cell lung cancers (SCLC) and cell lines derived therefrom are phenotypically heterogeneous concerning neuroendocrine differentiation. Unlike most SCLC tumors and cell lines that express poorly differentiated neuroendocrine phenotypes, the SCLC cell line DMS 53 exhibits mature endocrine differentiation features, including unusually high expression of the gene for the peptide hormone, calcitonin (CT). We now report that introduction of the viral Harvey ras (v-ras")