Abstract

A wide variety of human tumors contain an amplified or overexpressed erb B-2 gene, which encodes a growth factor receptor-like protein. When erb B-2 complementary DNA was expressed in NIH/3T3 cells under the control of the SV40 promoter, the gene lacked transforming activity despite expression of detectable levels of the erb B-2 protein. A further five- to tenfold increase in its expression under influence of the long terminal repeat of Moloney murine leukemia virus was associated with activation of erb B-2 as a potent oncogene. The high levels of the erb B-2 product associated with malignant transformation of NIH/3T3 cells were observed in human mammary tumor cells that overexpressed this gene. These findings demonstrate a new mechanism for acquisition of oncogenic properties by genes encoding growth factor receptor-like proteins and provide a functional basis for the role of their overexpression in the development of human malignancies.

Keywords

OncogeneErbBBiology3T3 cellsGeneCancer researchGene productMurine leukemia virusViral OncogeneLeukemiaGene expressionMolecular biologyTransfectionGeneticsCell cycle

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Year
1987
Type
article
Volume
237
Issue
4811
Pages
178-182
Citations
1008
Access
Closed

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Pier Paolo Di Fiore, Jacalyn H. Pierce, Matthias H. Kraus et al. (1987). <i>erb</i> B-2 Is a Potent Oncogene When Overexpressed in NIH/3T3 Cells. Science , 237 (4811) , 178-182. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2885917

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DOI
10.1126/science.2885917