Forskolin and a tumor promoter are able to induce c-fos and c-myc expression in normal, but not in a v-ras-transformed rat thyroid cell line.

The rat thyroid cell line (FRTL5) is dependent on thyrotropic hormone (TSH) for its growth. c-fos and c-myc oncogenes expression was measured in these cells after addition of their specific growth factor TSH and after treatment with either forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase or with a tumor promoter, TPA. Transient expression of oncogenes coding for nuclear products and a slight increase in ras-h oncogene expression were observed in normal rat thyroid cells after all treatments. In contrast, in v-ras-transformed rat thyroid cells, which express very high levels of p21, treatment with either TSH, forskolin or TPA does not induce c-fos gene expression, while c-myc expression was constitutive. Normal unstimulated cells show no c-myc expression.