Investigations of the expression of the cellular src gene product

Abstract

We have examined the expression of the c-src gene product in a variety of embryonic and adult tissues, in peripheral blood cells, and in cells transformed by other tumor viruses, in an attempt to identify the types of cells in which pp60c-src might provide a specific function. These studies have indicated that c-src gene expression is regulated at multiple levels in different cell types and have suggested that pp60c-src is not exclusively involved in the regulation of cell proliferation. The lowest levels of pp60c-src were found in fibroblasts, which have previously served as the standard cell type for comparisons between pp60c-src and pp60v-src. The highest levels of pp60c-src-specific kinase activity were detected in three types of cells: neurons, platelets, and polyoma virus transformed cells. In this report, we will compare the expression of pp60c-src in fibroblasts to that in platelets, neurons, and polyoma virus transformed fibroblasts. In each of the three latter cell types, the c-src gene product displays a unique pattern of expression which can be distinguished from that in fibroblasts (see diagram Fig. 1).