Oncogene mobility in a human leukemia line HL-60.

HL-60, a cell line derived from a human promyelocytic leukemia, shows amplification of the oncogene c-myc. Chromosome aberrations reported in HL-60 include double minutes (DMs) and an abnormally banded region (ABR) on chromosome #8. A relationship between these chromosomal aberrations and amplification of c-myc DNA has been suggested. We report the localization by cytologic hybridization of amplified c-myc DNA to a marker chromosome, M3q+, in an early passage of HL-60. The localization of c-myc to an ABR on an 8q+ chromosome was confirmed in later passage clones. The most probable derivation of the M3q+ chromosome is t(5p;17q) with additional material associated with c-myc amplification inserted into 17q. This localization is of interest in light of the association between t(15:17) and promyelocytic leukemia. The results indicate that amplification and chromosome integration can occur at a site other than the native gene locus and at different integration sites in different lineages of the same tumor.