Oncogene amplification detected by in situ hybridization in radiation induced rat skin tumors

Oncogene activation may play an important role in radiation induced carcinogenesis. C-myc oncogene amplification was detected by in situ hybridization in radiation-induced rat skin tumors, including squamous and basal cell carcinomas. In situ hybridization was performed with a biotinylated human c-myc third exon probe, visualized with an avidin-biotinylated alkaline phosphate detection system. No c-myc oncogene amplification was detected in normal rat skin at very early times after exposure to ionizing radiation, which is consistent with the view that c-myc amplification is more likely to be related to carcinogenesis than to normal cell proliferation. The incorporation of tritiated thymidine into the DNA of rat skin cells showed that the proliferation of epidermal cells reached a peak on the seventh day after exposure to ionizing radiation and then decreased. No connection between the proliferation of epidermal cell and c-myc oncogene amplification in normal or irradiated rat skin was found. The results indicated that c-myc amplification as measured by in situ hybridization was correlated with the Southern bolt results, but only some of the cancer cells were amplified. The c-myc positive cells were distributed randomly within regions of the tumor and exhibited a more uniform nuclear structure in comparison to the more vacuolated c-myc negative cells. No c-myc signal was detected in unirradiated normal skin or in irradiated skin cells near the tumors. C-myc amplification appears to be cell or cell cycle specific within radiation-induced carcinomas. 28 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs