Nm. Tsang et Jb. Little, EFFECT OF RESTORATION OF RETINOBLASTOMA GENE-FUNCTION ON THE RADIOSENSITIVITY OF CELLS OF HUMAN TUMOR-CELL LINES, Radiation research, 140(2), 1994, pp. 172-179
To assess the role of expression of the retinoblastoma (RB) gene on th
e sensitivity of cells to the cytotoxic effects of ionizing radiation,
we transfected a normal RB gene into cells of RB(+) and RB(-) osteosa
rcoma cell lines and an RB(-) prostate carcinoma line and studied the
radiosensitivity of the cells before and after transfection. Four tran
sfected clones were isolated from the two RB(-) tumor cell lines that
expressed the product of the transfected normal RB gene and contained
no mutations in the pocket and C-terminal regions by sequencing. A sma
ll increase in radiosensitivity was observed in cell lines transfected
with the pDOL plasmid vector alone, containing the neo gene and a lon
g terminal repeat (LTR) promoter. However, no significant change in ra
diosensitivity occurred in transfected cells expressing the normal RB
gene compared to controls transfected with an RB(-) plasmid. Based on
this and other information, we conclude that RB gene function is not i
nvolved in the response of these human tumor cells to the cytotoxic ef
fects of radiation.