The expression of c-myc related to the proliferation and transformation of rat liver-derived epithelial cells.

The expression of c-myc protein was studied in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes and rat liver-derived epithelial cell lines. The levels of the protein were determined by flow cytometry using a monoclonal antibody to the c-myc protein. Freshly isolated hepatocytes from normal adult male Fischer F344 rats had low but detectable levels of the protein which were similar in the different ploidies. Higher levels were detected in immortalised but untransformed rat liver cell lines, and increased expression was observed during passage through the cell cycle. Following in vitro transformation of one of the immortalised epithelial cell lines by ras genes, similar levels of c-myc expression to those present in the untransformed cells was maintained. Transformation by activated aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) resulted in lower levels of expression. The cell cycle related level of expression was also seen in the transformed cells. Similar results to those observed in the in vitro ras transfected liver-derived cell lines were obtained from in vivo AFB1-induced rat hepatoma cell lines. These results demonstrate that continuously dividing rat liver-derived cell lines have higher levels of expression of c-myc protein than non-dividing, freshly isolated hepatocytes, and that there is no further elevation in the levels observed when these cell lines are transformed. In some cases decreased levels can result from malignant transformation.