Functional homology between N-myc and c-myc in murine plasmacytomagenesis : plasmacytoma development in N-myc transgenic mice

• Mouse plasmacytomas induced by pristane oil alone, or in combination with Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV), regularly carry one of three alternative chromosomal translocations that juxtapose c-myc to immunoglobulin heavy- or light-chain loci. E mu-c-myc transgenic mice develop translocation-free plasmacytomas after induction by pristane oil and/or A-MuLV [Sugiyama, H., Silva, S., Wang, Y., Weber, G., Babonits, M., Rosen, A., Wiener, F. & Klein, G. (1990). Int. J. Cancer, 46, 845-852]. In order to test whether another member of the myc family, N-myc, could play a similar role as c-myc, we treated E mu-N-myc transgenic mice with pristane and helper-free A-MuLV. Of 20 mice that received a single pristane injection followed by A-MuLV, 17 developed plasmacytomas with a mean latency period of 54 +/- 20 days. In a corresponding group that only received a single pristane injection, five out of six transgenic mice developed plasmacytomas with a mean latency period of 142 +/- 32 days. However, after three monthly injections of pristane, all 15 transgenic mice developed plasmacytomas with a mean latency period of 128 +/- 20 days. All plasmacytomas expressed the N-myc transgene, while none of them expressed either c-myc or endogenous N-myc. None of the tumors carried the usual plasmacytoma-associated translocations.

Keyword

Abelson murine leukemia virus

Animals

Carcinogens

DNA

DNA, Neoplasm

Enhancer Elements, Genetic

Genes, Immunoglobulin

Genes, myc

Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains

Immunoglobulin Light Chains

Introns

Mice

Mice, Transgenic

Plasmacytoma

RNA

RNA, Neoplasm

Terpenes

Translocation, Genetic

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)