Ha-rasVa112 but not p53Ser247 leads to a significant neoplastic transformation rate of the putative rat liver stem cells (oval cell)

In order to test the controversially discussed hypothesis that oval cells are part of a liver stem cell compartment and can give rise to cholangiocellular as well as hepatocellular carcinomas in the course of liver carcinogenesis, we transfected an oval cell line established in our laboratory with an oncogenically activated genomic Ha-ras clone (pUC EJ 6.6), carrying a valine at position 12 instead of the wild-type glycine, or a rat p53 cDNA mutated by site-directed mutagenesis at codon 247, which corresponds to codon 249 in the human p53. This codon is of particular interest since it represents a mutation hotspot observed in hepatocellular carcinoma especially in regions with high aflatoxi…