A product of DAN, a novel candidate tumour suppressor gene, is secreted into culture medium and suppresses DNA synthesis.

Our previous studies have shown that the DAN gene product possesses an ability to revert phenotypes of transformed rat fibroblasts and represents a candidate tumour suppressor gene for neuroblastoma. In the present study, characterisation of DAN was carried out using rat fibroblast 3Y1 cells and their DAN-overexpressor counterparts (S-9). The N-terminal region of DAN (amino acids 1-24) was highly hydrophobic and DAN protein was found to be secreted into the culture medium. When DAN was treated with PNGase F, a enzyme that cleaves most N-linked carbohydrate residues, the mobility of both cytoplasmic and secreted DAN was increased in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, suggesting DAN is N-glycosylated, irrespective of its localisation. When partially purified, DAN was able, when added to the culture, to suppress DNA synthesis of Rous sarcoma virus-transformed 3Y1 cells, which lack the expression of DAN.