Cellular oncogene expression in cell lines derived from tumors produced by transformed rat tracheal epithelial cells.

Five tumor-derived cell lines established from transformed rat tracheal epithelial (RTE) cells were examined for activated oncogenes using the NIH 3T3 assay, and the expression of 11 cellular oncogenes in the transformed cells was quantitated and compared with expression in normal RTE cells. DNA from the tumor-derived cell lines lacked transforming activity, but expression of several oncogenes (fos, abl, Ki-ras, Ha-ras, and p53) was higher in the transformed cells than in normal RTE cells.