C- Myc expression is down-regulated by cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix contacts in normal hepatocytes, but not in hepatoma cells

Abstract

Primary culture of adult rat hepatocytes resulted in marked increase of c- myc expression within a few hours. The high level of c- myc mRNA was maintained throughout culture on collagen-coated dishes, but decreased greatly with time during culture on collagen-gel or matrigel. Expression of c- myc was also down-regulated at high cell density. The decrease in its expression appeared closely related to inhibitions of DNA synthesis and cell spreading. In contrast, hepatoma H4TG cells showed a high level of c- myc expression which was not affected by culture on any extracellular matrices examined or by the cell density. These results suggest that upregulation of expression of the c- myc gene is linked to G 0 to G 1 transition during cell cycle progression, which in normal hepatocytes is strictly regulated by cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions, but that this control mechanism is defective in malignant hepatic tumor cells.