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Dietary Fat and Colon Cancer: Modulating Effect of Types and Amount of Dietary Fat on ras-p21 Function during Promotion and Progression Stages of Colon Cancer¹

Division of Nutritional Carcinogenesis, American Health Foundation, Valhalla, New York 10595

Although epidemiological and experimental studies have indicated a strong relationship between types and amount of dietary fat and colon tumorigenesis, the modulating effects of these nutritional factors at the molecular level have not been fully elucidated. Transforming proteins encoded by activated ras genes have been implicated in the etiology of many human malignancies, including colon cancer. It is now well established that the transforming ability of ras-p21 critically depends on its correct localization in plasma membrane. The posttranslational processing of the cytosolic precursor (pro-ras), as it is synthesized in the cytoplasm, and its proper anchorage to the cytoplasmic face of plasma membrane are determined by an important intermediate metabolite of dietary fat and an enzyme system that includes farnesyl protein transferase. To provide an understanding of the molecular basis of the relationship between the types and amount of dietary fat and the transforming function of ras, especially during the stages of promotion and progression of colon tumor development, we investigated the effect of various types and amount of dietary fat on the expression of ras-p21 during azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon carcinogenesis. Male F344 rats were fed the semipurified American Institute of Nutrition-76A diet containing low-fat corn oil and were given s.c. injections of AOM dissolved in normal saline at a dose rate of 15 mg/kg body weight, once weekly, for 2 weeks. Control animals received s.c. injections of equal volumes of normal saline. Beginning 1 day after the second AOM or saline injection, groups of animals intended for the treatment with different types of high-fat dietary regimens were fed the semipurified American Institute of Nutrition-76A diets containing high levels of high-fat corn oil (HFCO) rich in omega-6 fatty acids or high levels of high-fat fish oil (HFFO) rich in omega-3 fatty acids; the remaining animals in experimental and control groups were continued on the low-fat corn oil diet until termination of the experiment. Groups of animals were sacrificed 1, 12, or 36 weeks after the last AOM or saline injection, and their colonic mucosa and grossly visible colon tumors from rats sacrificed 36 weeks after the last AOM injection were analyzed for the levels of expression of ras-p21. We found that AOM induced increasingly higher levels of ras-p21 expression with advancing stages of colon tumor development. The HFCO diet resulted in enhanced expression of AOM-induced ras-p21 as observed 36 weeks after the last AOM injection. In contrast, feeding the HFFO diet inhibited AOM-induced ras-p21 expression. These results correlate with increased incidence and multiplicity of grossly visible colon tumors in AOM-treated animals fed a HFCO diet versus decreased incidence and lower multiplicity of colon tumors in their counterparts on the HFFO diet. Further analysis of ras-p21 levels in cytosol and plasma membrane revealed that feeding a HFFO diet resulted in increasing accumulation of ras-p21 in cytoplasm with a concomitant decrease in membrane-bound ras-p21 levels as observed in animals sacrificed 12 and 36 weeks after the last AOM injection. Thus, the dietary HFCO may promote colon tumorigenesis by increasing ras-p21 expression, whereas HFFO appears to exert its antitumor activity by interfering with posttranslational modification and membrane localization of ras-p21.

¹ This work was supported by USPHS Grants CA-17613 and CA-37663 awarded by the National Cancer Institute.

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at the Division of Nutritional Carcinogenesis, American Health Foundation, One Dana Road, Valhalla, NY 10595.

Received 7/11/96. Accepted 11/12/96.

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