COORDINATE CONTROL OF GROWTH AND CYTOKERATIN-13 EXPRESSION BY RETINOIC ACID

Retinoic acid (RA) modulates the growth and differentiation of various normal and malignant cells. These effects are most likely mediated by changes in gene expression. Genes whose expression is modulated by RA may be useful as markers of growth responsiveness to retinoids. Using differential cDNA cloning we identified 10 genes regulated by RA in t he head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell line MDA886Ln. Keratin ( K) 13 gene expression was the gene expression most related to the degr ee of sensitivity of growth to RA, as K13 was not expressed in a serie s of RA-resistant cell lines. Our data suggest that low K13 expression may be mechanistically related to resistance to RA-induced growth inh ibition. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.