Transformation by the v-fms oncogene product: role of glycosylational processing and cell surface expression.

The effect of glycosylational-processing inhibitors on the synthesis, cell surface expression, endocytosis, and transforming function of the v-fms oncogene protein (gp140fms) was examined in McDonough feline sarcoma virus-transformed Fischer rat embryo (SM-FRE) cells. Swainsonine (SW), a mannosidase II inhibitor, blocked complete processing, but an abnormal v-fms protein containing hybrid carbohydrate structures was expressed on the cell surface. SW-treated SM-FRE cells retained the transformed phenotype. In contrast, two glucosidase I inhibitors (castanospermine [CA] and N-methyl-1-deoxynojirimycin [MdN]) blocked carbohydrate remodeling at an early stage within the endoplasmic reticulum and prevented cell surface expression of v-fms proteins. CA-treated SM-FRE cells reverted to the normal phenotype. Neither SW, CA, nor MdN affected either endocytosis or the tyrosine kinase activity associated with the v-fms gene product in vitro. These results demonstrate the necessity of carbohydrate processing for cell surface expression of the v-fms gene product and illustrate the unique ability to modulate the transformed state of SM-FRE cells with the glycosylational-processing inhibitors CA and MdN.