Expression of abl and other oncogenes is independent of metastatic potential in Abelson virus-transformed malignant murine large cell lymphoma.

The role of oncogene expression in tumor metastasis was examined using the Abelson leukemia virus-transformed murine large cell lymphoma RAW117. Cell sublines of low and high metastatic potential expressed equally abl oncogene-coded mRNA and its phosphoprotein product p160, and the capacity of p160 to become autophosphorylated with gamma-[32P]ATP was the same among low and high metastatic cells. The expression of other oncogene-coded mRNAs (fos, myc, myb), if present, was also similar in low and high metastatic RAW117 cells. Although oncogene expression is thought to be important in initiating, and in some cases maintaining, the transformed phenotype, its expression in RAW117 lymphoma cells appears to be unrelated to metastatic phenotype.