EXPRESSION OF NEURAL BC1 RNA - INDUCTION IN MURINE TUMORS

BC1 RNA is a small cytoplasmic RNA polymerase III transcript that is e xpressed in the rodent nervous system. The RNA is selectively expresse d in neurons where it is located in somatodendritic domains. BC1 RNA i s not normally detectable in non-neuronal somatic cells; it is however expressed in germ cells and in cultured immortal cell lines of variou s non-neural origins. We therefore sought to establish whether the neu ron-specific regulation of BC1 expression is altered in nonneural tumo ur cells. Oncogen and chemical carcinogen induced mouse tumours were a nalysed for the presence of BC1 RNA, using Northern transfer and in si tu hybridisation. Here we report that BC1 RNA is selectively expressed in tumour cells, but not in corresponding normal tissues. These resul ts indicate that neural-specific regulation of BC1 expression is lacki ng in murine tumour cells of non-neural origin. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd.