Identification of DNA sequence responsible for 5-bromodeoxyuridine-induced gene amplification.

Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) treatment of the prolactin nonproducing subclone of GH cells (rat pituitary tumor cells) induces amplification of a 20-kilobase DNA fragment including all of the prolactin gene coding sequences. This amplified DNA segment, which is flanked by two unamplified regions, thus designates a unit of BrdUrd-induced amplified sequence. Cloned DNA segments, 10.3 kilobases long, from the 5' end of the rat prolactin gene of BrdUrd-responsive and -nonresponsive cells, were ligated to the thymidine kinase gene of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1TK), and the hybrid DNA was transferred to thymidine kinase-deficient mouse fibroblast cells by transfection. The HSV1TK gene and the rat prolactin gene were amplified together in drug-treated transfectants carrying the hybrid DNA HSV1TK gene and rat prolactin gene of BrdUrd-responsive GH cells. These results suggest that the 10.3-kilobase DNA segment at the 5' end of the rat prolactin gene of BrdUrd-responsive GH cells carries the information for drug-induced gene amplification (amplicon) and that another gene, such as the HSV1TK gene, is also amplified when the latter is placed adjacent to this segment.