Downmodulation of c-myc expression by interferon gamma and tumour necrosis factor alpha precedes growth arrest in human melanoma cells.

After in vitro incubation of melanoma tumour cells Cmel453A with either recombinant interferon gamma (rIFN-gamma) or tumour necrosis factor alpha (rTNF-alpha) a dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth occurred; when both cytokines were added, a synergistic action was observed. Inhibition of DNA synthesis, as measured by [3H] thymidine incorporation, occurred after 6 h of incubation with rIFN-gamma or rTNF-alpha, and this action was potentiated when the two cytokines were applied simultaneously. Within 1 h, the level of c-myc mRNA in tumour cells had already decreased by, respectively, 60% (S.D. 7) and 25% (S.D. 7); the combined addition of the cytokines resulted in a greater reduction of c-myc mRNA than by each cytokine alone. Downregulation of c-myc expression is an early event, occurring hours before the actual inhibition of outgrowth. Thus, in melanoma cells like Cmel with a high constitutive expression of the c-myc oncogene, the antiproliferative action of rIFN-gamma and rTNF-alpha may be mediated by an inhibition of the expression of c-myc.