AN IN-VITRO H-1-MRS MODEL OF ONCOGENE TRANSFECTION - THE SPECTRAL FEATURE OF C-ERBB-2 AND C-HA-RAS TRANSFECTED NIH3T3 FIBROBLAST CELLS

Purpose: Malignancy is an abnormality of cell division and differentia tion based on abnormal expression of oncogenes. This note describes th e in vitro H-1-NMR spectral features of oncogene-transfected NIH3T3 fi broblast cells compared to non-transfected cells. Material and Methods : H-1-NMR spectra of cultured NIH3T3 cells and c-erbB-2 or c-Ha-ras ge ne-transfected cells were obtained by 400 MHz high resolution NMR. The peaks were assigned by 2D HOHAHA spectra of the cell suspension and t he spectral changes were evaluated in 1D and 1D differential spectra. Results: The H-1 spectra obtained from both transfected cell lines wer e broadened over all peaks, suggesting reduced mobility in plasma memb rane lipid molecules. No other differential spectra for characterizing metabolic change was detected. Conclusion: Broadened H-1 spectra obse rved after c-erbB-2 or c-Ha-ras transfection suggest changes of plasma membrane viscosity, which may be related to the oncogene expression.