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Query: UMLS:C0027819 (neuroblastoma)
 27,800 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have demonstrated that the entire murine N-myc gene and the sequences necessary for its expression in human neuroblastoma cells are contained within a 7.4-kilobase murine genomic clone. The complete nucleotide sequence of this gene reveals a number of striking similarities and differences when compared to the related c-myc gene including the following: (i) each gene contains three exons of which the first encodes a long 5'-untranslated leader sequence; (ii) the coding regions of the N- and c-myc genes share regions of substantial nucleic acid homology, the putative N-myc protein shares substantial homology with the c-myc protein; (iii) as with c-myc, extensive nucleotide sequence homology exists between the untranslated regions of the human and murine N-myc gene transcripts; however, the N-myc and c-myc untranslated regions are totally divergent; (iv) the N-myc transcriptional promoter differs from that of c-myc and is more related to the promoter of the simian virus 40. We discuss these findings in the context of previously defined similarities and differences in the potential functional and regulatory aspects of these two myc-family members.
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PMID:Structure and expression of the murine N-myc gene. 351 90

We examined the expression of N-myc, c-myc, and c-src in four embryonic carcinoma (EC) cell lines during different states of cell growth and following induction of in vitro differentiation. N-myc mRNA was detected in undifferentiated cells of four EC cell lines (PCC7, PCC3, PCC4, F9) neither of which showed N-myc gene amplification. No N-myc transcripts could be detected in mRNA prepared from a murine neuroblastoma cell line and from a murine fibroblast line. The level of N-myc mRNA decreased by 85% when PCC7 EC cells were induced by retinoic acid and cAMP treatment to form nerve-like cells. Six days after induction, the PCC7 cells changed into aggregates of neurofilament positive cells with massive neurite outgrowths. At this stage DNA replication had been reduced by more than 95%. The decreased N-myc expression in induced PCC7 cells was parallelled by 300-500% increase in c-src expression. Slowing of cell multiplication by serum starvation, on the other hand, did not affect the level of N-myc or c-src mRNA levels in PCC7 cells. C-myc was expressed in all EC lines except PCC7, which surprisingly did not express c-myc even at an exponential rate of proliferation. Chemical induction of F9 EC cells to form visceral endoderm or parietal endoderm resulted in markedly reduced (85%) levels of N-myc transcripts. A similar decline in c-myc expression was found in differentiated F9 cells. No c-src transcripts were detected in proliferating or differentiated F9 cells. These results suggest that N-myc may be expressed not only in neural development, but also in very early, undetermined embryonic cells. The activation of c-src expression when PCC7 EC cells differentiate into nerve-like cells shows that the pattern of proto-oncogene expression may change during a differentiation process, some proto-oncogenes increasing, others decreasing their representation in the mRNA pool.
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PMID:N-myc and c-src genes are differentially regulated in PCC7 embryonal carcinoma cells undergoing neuronal differentiation. 370 Apr 83

The N-myc gene, which is distantly related to the proto-oncogene c-myc, was first detected as an amplified sequence in human neuroblastoma cell lines and tumours. It has since been revealed that there is up to a 300-fold amplification of N-myc DNA in almost 50% of advanced metastatic human neuroblastomas, whereas amplification is not detected in less advanced tumours that have a better prognosis (ref.3 and M.S., unpublished data). Although expression of N-myc is detectable in all neuroblastoma cell lines and tumours examined, its level is greatly enhanced when the N-myc gene is amplified. Recently, it has been shown that on co-transfection with the c-Ha-ras (EJ) gene, N-myc can induce the malignant transformation of rat embryo fibroblasts. Taken together, these data imply a function for N-myc in the development and/or progression of human neuroblastomas. Surveys indicate that N-myc also may be amplified and/or expressed in two other types of human tumours and cell lines derived from them: retinoblastomas and small cell lung cancers. Here, we report that N-myc is expressed at high levels in mouse and human teratocarcinoma stem cells, thus identifying another tumour cell type that expresses the N-myc gene. In addition, we found that N-myc is abundantly expressed in mouse embryos at mid-gestation and that its expression appears to decrease as the embryo approaches term. In the adult mouse, N-myc is expressed at an approximately fivefold lower level in the brain than in teratocarcinoma stem cells and embryos, and at even lower levels in the adult testis and kidney. Our data represent the first demonstration of expression of the N-myc gene in normal cells, and suggest that N-myc may be involved in mammalian embryogenesis.
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PMID:Expression of N-myc in teratocarcinoma stem cells and mouse embryos. 384 May 74

Proto-oncogenes may be important in the cellular processes central for the growth and differentiation of normal cells. N-myc is a DNA sequence which shares limited homology to the proto-oncogene c-myc and has been found to be amplified in both primary tissue and cell lines from neuroblastoma, a childhood tumour of neuroectodermal origin. Differentiation of this embryonal tumour is of clinical importance, since occasional tumours have been noted to differentiate in vivo to benign ganglioneuroma. In vitro, many human neuroblastoma cell lines can be induced to differentiate morphologically and biochemically by a variety of agents. Retinoic acid (RA), an analogue of vitamin A, has been shown to inhibit neuroblastoma cell growth and clonability in soft agar, and to induce extensive neurite outgrowth. Therefore we examined the relationship of N-myc expression to the in vitro differentiation of these cells. We report here that in the case of RA-induced differentiation, a decreased level of expression is detected within 6 h of treatment and precedes both cell-cycle changes and morphological differentiation.
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PMID:Decreased expression of N-myc precedes retinoic acid-induced morphological differentiation of human neuroblastoma. 385 2

N-myc, which has partial sequence homology to the oncogene c-myc, was isolated from human neuroblastoma cell lines. We have surveyed amplification of N-myc, clone 8 and pG21 in human neuroblastoma cell lines, xenografts and in primary tumors and found that amplification frequently occurred in tumors classified as stage III and IV. In situ hybridization studies demonstrated that in neuroblastomas, chromosome aberrations such as HSR (homogeneously staining region) and DMs (double minutes) are cytological manifestations of the amplification of these clones. The N-myc-related gene seems to contribute to cell growth or differentiation of the nerve cell and its amplification with enhanced expression promotes the progression of the tumor with poor prognosis.
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PMID:[Oncogene amplification in human neuroblastomas]. 396 37

Proto-oncogenes represent a group of eukaryotic genes whose activated forms are implicated in the development of cancer. We have recently identified a human gene, N-myc, that is distantly related to the proto-oncogene c-myc. N-myc is expressed at abnormally high levels consequent to amplification in numerous human neuroblastoma cell lines and metastatic neuroblastoma tumours. In addition, enhanced expression of N-myc, often a result of amplification, has been found in retinoblastoma cell lines and tumours (refs 5, 7 and M.S., unpublished data) and in cell lines derived from small-cell carcinomas of the lung. Here, we show that enhanced expression of N-myc subsequent to co-transfections of an N-myc expression vector and the mutant c-Ha-ras-1(EJ) (from the human bladder carcinoma cell line EJ) is a factor in tumorigenic conversion of secondary rat embryo cells. The transformed cells elicit tumours in athymic mice and isogeneic rats. The ability of N-myc to contribute to neoplastic transformation of cultured mammalian cells raises the possibility that enhanced expression consequent to amplification of N-myc may be a factor in the aetiology of human neuroblastoma.
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PMID:Human N-myc gene contributes to neoplastic transformation of mammalian cells in culture. 404 Feb 14

We have cloned a 2.0-kb EcoRI fragment of human genomic DNA (NB-19-21) which has homology to the v-myc oncogene but is distinct from the classical c-myc gene. This sequence is amplified from 25- to 700-fold in eight of nine tested human neuroblastoma cell lines which contain either homogeneously staining regions or double minutes (HSRs or DMs), the caryological manifestations of amplified genes. In the remaining line, the c-myc proto-oncogene is amplified approximately 30-fold. NB-19-21 hybridizes to a 3.2-kb cytoplasmic, poly(A)+ RNA species that is abundant only in lines in which the sequence is amplified. We propose that the gene encoding the NB-19-21-related RNA species may represent a new oncogene, which we call N-myc. NB-19-21 derives from chromosome 2; but in the five HSR-containing lines that have amplified this sequence, none has HSRs on chromosome 2. NB-19-21 is associated with DMs in a DM-containing line. A second, randomly cloned, amplified DNA segment from the HSR of one of the neuroblastoma lines is amplified in a subset of the lines in which NB-19-21 is amplified. In addition, this probe identifies a novel joint in the amplification unit of one line relative to that of the others. We suggest that, in the eight lines which have amplified NB-19-21, the amplification units are overlapping, but not identical, and that transposition of the common sequences may occur prior to amplification.
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PMID:Transposition and amplification of oncogene-related sequences in human neuroblastomas. 619 79

Screening of a partial cDNA library prepared from the human neuroblastoma cell line BE(2)-C with genomic DNA probes containing sequences representative of the amplified domain of that cell line allowed us to identify cloned transcripts from an active gene within the domain. The gene BE(2)-C-59 is amplified ca. 150-fold and encodes a 3.0- and a 1.5-kilobase RNA transcript, both of which are overproduced in BE(2)-C cells. A survey of a large variety of human tumor cell types indicated that this gene is amplified to varying degrees in all neuroblastoma cell lines and a retinoblastoma cell line that exhibit obvious cytological manifestations of DNA sequence amplification, i.e., homogeneously staining regions and double-minute chromosomes. The BE(2)-C-59 gene is not amplified, however, in other nonrelated tumor types, even those containing amplified DNA. Although the functional significance of this specific gene amplification in neuroblastoma cells remains unknown, an indication that it may relate to the malignant phenotype of these cells follows from the remainder of our data which show that the amplified BE(2)-C-59 gene shares partial homology with both the second and third exons, but not the first exon, of the human c-myc oncogene.
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PMID:Expression of the amplified domain in human neuroblastoma cells. 654 47

Cellular oncogenes comprise a class of genes whose aberrant expression or function may be involved in the development of tumours. Indeed, several naturally occurring animal and human tumours are associated with consistent alterations in the structure or genomic position of particular cellular oncogenes. Recently, we isolated a DNA segment having limited similarity to c-myc (termed N-myc) from a human neuroblastoma cell line. Although N-myc was present as a single copy in normal cells, it was selectively amplified up to 140-fold in tumour cells from human neuroblastomas. Now, we have used somatic cell hybrids to show that N-myc is normally localized on the distal short arm of chromosome 2, and in situ hybridization to localize N-myc to chromosome 2p23-24. Further, in situ hybridization localizes amplified N-myc in neuroblastoma cells to homogeneously staining regions (HSRs) on different chromosomes. Thus, our results suggest that amplification and translocation of N-myc may be interrelated processes associated with human neuroblastoma, and demonstrate that the site of N-myc amplification is quite variable and bears no apparent relationship to either the normal single-copy locus or recognized sites of non-random chromosome alteration in human neuroblastoma.
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PMID:Chromosome localization in normal human cells and neuroblastomas of a gene related to c-myc. 670 Jul 32

Amplified cellular genes in mammalian cells frequently manifest themselves as double minute chromosomes (DMs) and homogeneously staining regions of chromosomes (HSRs). With few exceptions both karyotypic abnormalities appear to be confined to tumour cells. All vertebrates possess a set of cellular genes homologous to the transforming genes of RNA tumour viruses, and there is circumstantial evidence that these cellular oncogenes are involved in tumorigenesis. We have recently shown that DMs and HSRs in cells of the mouse adrenocortical tumour Y1 and an HSR in the human colon carcinoma COLO320 contain amplified copies of the cellular oncogenes c-Ki-ras and c-myc, respectively. Both DMs and HSRs are found with remarkable frequency in cells of human neuroblastomas. We show here that a DNA domain detectable by partial homology to the myc oncogene is amplified up to 140-fold in cell lines derived from different human neuroblastomas and in a neuroblastoma tumour, but not in other tumour cells showing cytological evidence for gene amplification. By in situ hybridization we found that HSRs are the chromosomal sites of the amplified DNA. The frequency with which this amplification appears in cells from neuroblastomas and its apparent specificity raise the possibility that one or more of the genes contained within the amplified domain contribute to tumorigenesis.
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PMID:Amplified DNA with limited homology to myc cellular oncogene is shared by human neuroblastoma cell lines and a neuroblastoma tumour. 688 61


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