Transformation by the v-fms oncogene product: an analog of the CSF-1 receptor.

The product of the c-fms proto-oncogene is related to, and possibly identical with, the receptor for the macrophage colony-stimulating factor, M-CSF (CSF-1). Unlike the product of the v-erbB oncogene, which is a truncated version of the EGF receptor, the glycoprotein encoded by the v-fms oncogene retains an intact extracellular ligand-binding domain so that cells transformed by v-fms express CSF-1 receptors at their surface. Although fibroblasts susceptible to transformation by v-fms generally produce CSF-1, v-fms-mediated transformation does not depend on an exogenous source of the growth factor, and neutralizing antibodies to CSF-1 do not affect the transformed phenotype. An alteration of the v-fms gene product at its extreme carboxyl-terminus represents the major structural difference between it and the c-fms-coded glycoprotein and may affect the tyrosine kinase activity of the v-fms-coded receptor. Consistent with this interpretation, tyrosine phosphorylation of the v-fms products in membranes was observed in the absence of CSF-1 and was not enhanced by addition of the murine growth factor. Cells transformed by v-fms have a constitutively elevated specific activity of a guanine nucleotide-dependent, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-diphosphate-specific phospholipase C. We speculate that the tyrosine kinase activity of the v-fms/c-fms gene products may be coupled to this phospholipase C, possibly through a G regulatory protein, thereby increasing phosphatidylinositol turnover and generating the intracellular second messengers diacylglycerol and inositol triphosphate.