Transfection of normal and transformed hamster cerebral cortex glial cells with activated c-H-ras-1 results in the acquisition of a diffusely invasive phenotype.

We have examined the effect of activated c-Ha-ras oncogene on the invasive phenotype of normal and tumorigenic glial cells of Syrian hamster cerebral cortex derivation. T24 ras oncogene derived from a human bladder carcinoma was transfected into normal glial cells and minimally invasive tumorigenic glial cells produced by SV40 transformation. The normal cells acquired the capacity to grow in soft agar and become tumorigenic. With ras transfection, both the normal and minimally invasive SV40 tumor cells became diffusely invasive for adjacent normal brain. (N.B.: One cell line exhibited less extensive invasion than the others.) All of the transfected cell lines exhibited high levels of ras expression. These results indicate that ras can impart tumorigenic potential to normal glial cells and progress these or minimally invasive glial cells to full invasiveness.