The growth of normal diploid fibroblasts is generally thought to be tightly controlled by exogenous growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF). Subversion of a growth factor pathway at a regulatory point is considered to be a key event in neoplastic transformation and tumorigenesis. Thus, simian sarcoma virus has acquired the gene encoding the B-chain of PDGF and there is direct experimental proof that SSV-transformation is mediated by a PDGF-like growth factor. There is accumulating evidence that PDGF-like molecules are also synthesized and released by certain normal cells, suggesting an important role of cellularly produced PDGF in development and tissue regeneration. We now present evidence that a transient expression of the gene encoding the PDGF A-chain, and the synthesis and release of functional A-chain homodimers, is an early event in the prereplicative phase of normal human foreskin fibroblasts exposed to PDGF or EGF. Since these cells are PDGF-responsive, the results imply the existence of a positive autocrine signal that may serve as an amplifier of the mitogenic response under certain conditions.

Normal human melanocytes and five human melanoma cell lines were analyzed for production of plateletderived growth factor (PDGF)-like activity. Three of the melanoma cell lines released an activity that inhibited binding of 1251-labeled PDGF to human foreskin fibroblasts and stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation in such cells. These activities were inhibited by the addition of anti-PDGF antibodies. All three factor-producing cell lines were derived from the same patient-one originated from the primary tumor (WM 115), and two were from individual lymph-node metastases (WM 239A and WM 266-4). The factor produced by WM 266-4 cells was characterized biochemically in detail. Immunoprecipitated, the metabolically labeled factor migrated in NaDod-

We have studied the effect of increased intracellular levels of cyclic AMP on the growth response to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) of human foreskin fibroblasts in culture. It was found that forskolin, a potent stimulator of adenylate cyclase activity, inhibits the stimulatory effect of PDGF on 3H-thymidine incorporation with a dose dependence similar to that observed with regard to cyclic AMP formation. A time-course study indicated that forskolin has no effect on ongoing DNA synthesis but affects events in the prereplicative phase. The cell-cycle block induced by forskolin was found to be reversible; after removal of the drug, DNA synthesis was initiated after a lag period, similar to that of the prereplicative phase of control cells. Forskolin had no effect on PDGF binding, receptor autophosphorylation, or c-fos mRNA expression. However, a reduction in PDGF-induced c-myc mRNA expression was observed in cultures given forskolin. Forskolin was also found to have a marked stimulatory effect on the expression of interferon-beta 2 mRNA expression. However, we were unable to demonstrate that the growth-inhibitory effect of forskolin is mediated by interferon-beta. In conclusion, an increase in cAMP levels leads to a reversible inhibition of PDGF-induced DNA synthesis in human fibroblasts, which may be related to an inhibition of c-myc mRNA expression.

We report here that transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) inhibits platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced DNA synthesis in normal human fibroblasts in a cell density-dependent manner; no inhibition was seen in sparse cultures, approximately 50% inhibition in confluent cell cultures, and an almost total inhibition in dense cultures. The PDGF-inducible genes c-myc and c-fos were induced also by TGF-beta 1. Simultaneous addition of TGF-beta 1 and PDGF resulted in sustained, rather than transient, expression of c-fos mRNA; c-fos mRNA was detected as long as 24 hr after addition of PDGF and TFG-beta 1. TGF-beta 1 also induced mRNA for the A chain, but not the B chain, of PDGF. Conversely, PDGF induced TGF-beta 1 mRNA in sparse but not in dense cultures. These data indicate the existence of a complex interdependent regulation of PDGF and TGF-beta mRNA expression which is influenced by the cell density.

Communicated by J.PontenAs human fibroblasts in culture senesce their response to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) becomes attenuated. To clarify at which level such cells are blocked in the prereplicative part of the cell cycle, we have analysed PDGFinduced pre-replicative events in senescent (phase III) cultures. We found that phase III cells retain a normal number of PDGF receptors and that these are functional with regard to PDGF-induced receptor autophosphorylation. Phase III cells also respond to PDGF by rapid actin reorganization and increased levels of c-fos and c-myc mRNA, similar to growth-arrested phase H fibroblasts. However, the expression of the nuclear antigen K-67, which in phase II cell is induced in S-phase and continues to be expressed throughout the cell cycle, is not induced in phase III cells in response to PDGF. We conclude that phase III human fibroblasts, although blocked with regard to proliferation, still retain a functional growth factor receptor system, and display early responses when exposed to growth factors, such as changes in the cytoskeleton and the expression of proto-oncogenes.