Characterization of human transforming genes from chemically transformed, teratocarcinoma, and pancreatic carcinoma cell lines.

Dominant transforming genes that were transferred to mouse NIH3T3 cells by cellular DNAs prepared from a chemically transformed human cell line (MNNG-HOS), a human teratocarcinoma cell line (PA1), and a human pancreatic carcinoma cell line (A1165) were characterized (a) analyzing the repetitive human DNA sequences that were associated with the transforming gene and (b) determining their relationship to the oncogenes of the Harvey (rasH) and Kirsten (rasK) sarcoma viruses and to the human neuroblastoma transforming gene (rasN). The results show that the transforming gene activated in the teratocarcinoma cell line is identical to the neuroblastoma transforming gene and that the transforming gene of the pancreatic carcinoma cell line is a human homologue of rasK. In contrast, the transforming gene activated in the chemically transformed human cell line showed no detectable homology to rasK, rasH, and rasN.