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Androgen regulation of cell proliferation and expression of viral sequences in mouse mammary tumour cells

Nature volume 303, pages 431–433 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

The role of steroids in promoting cell proliferation is well established1–3 but the molecular mechanisms are not clear. The S115 mouse mammary tumour cell line provides a model system for molecular studies in vitro in that it exhibits in tissue culture both a positive proliferative response to androgens and a change from a transformed phenotype in the presence of androgen to a normal phenotype when androgen is removed. We have considered here the possible involvement of mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV) in these processes. We have demonstrated the presence in S115 cells of MMTV-related sequences which are transcribed into RNA only in the long-term presence of androgen. Prolonged culture in the absence of androgen, which results in loss of proliferative response to androgen, is accompanied by loss of MMTV-related RNA and increased methylation of MMTV-related sequences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Imperial Cancer Research Fund, PO Box 123, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX, UK

    Philippa Darbre, Clive Dickson, Gordon Peters, Martin Page, Sally Curtis & Roger J. B. King

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  1. Philippa Darbre
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  2. Clive Dickson
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  3. Gordon Peters
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  4. Martin Page
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  5. Sally Curtis
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  6. Roger J. B. King
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Darbre, P., Dickson, C., Peters, G. et al. Androgen regulation of cell proliferation and expression of viral sequences in mouse mammary tumour cells. Nature 303, 431–433 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/303431a0

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