REINFORCING APOPTOSIS-RESISTANCE OF COS AND MYELOMA CELLS BY TRANSFECTING WITH BCL-2 GENE

COS, myeloma and HeLa cells, which are commonly used for protein produ ction by cell culture, were transfected with human bcl-2 gene encoded on the shuttle vector BCMGS. Expression of human bcl-2 improved surviv al of cells remarkably, mildly, or negligibly for COS, myeloma, and He La, respectively. Four clones were obtained from the human bcl-2 expre ssing cell population of COS cells. They expressed human bcl-2 almost at the same level. The viable cell numbers were 6, 2.5, 2.5, and 0.8 t imes as many for the clones #8, #5, #6, and #7, respectively, as for t he control COS cells, when they were cultured at low (0.2%) serum conc entration for 9 days. The bcl-2 overexpressing COS cells showed morpho logy different from that of the control COS cells in serum limited con dition. When transfected with mouse lambda protein gene carried by an SV40-derived vector, done #8 of the bcl-2 transfected COS cells contin ued the transient expression of lambda protein longer than the control COS cells.