Abstract
Neoplastic transformation of cells has often been associated with changes in cellular oncogenes. While much information has been collected in mammalian systems, relatively little is known about the molecular basis of tumor progression in lower vertebrates. For our studies, tumors were collected from feral northern pike (Esox lucius) from Ostego Lake, MI, where the local population exhibited a 15% incidence of large external lymphomas. In laboratory studies, tumors were induced under controlled conditions by known mammalian carcinogens in the Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), a small aquarium fish widely used in carcinogenicity studies. DNA isolated from these tumors was assayed for transforming sequences by transfection into NIH3T3 cells. DNAs from the northern pike lymphomas and the chemically induced tumors in the medaka were able to transform NIH3T3 cells and induce tumors in athymic mice. The results of our studies to date are summarized here, together with the current status of oncogene activation in other fish systems.
Footnotes
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↵1 Presented at the “XIVth Symposium of the International Association for Comparative Research on Leukemia and Related Diseases,” October 8–12, 1989, Vail, CO.
This work was supported in part by a Special Fellowship from the Leukemia Society of America, Inc., and NIH Grant ES03729 to R. J. V. B.
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↵2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at the Duke University Marine Laboratory.
- ©1990 American Association for Cancer Research.
Volume 50, Issue 17 Supplement
