A product of DAN, a novel candidate tumour suppressor gene, is secreted into culture medium and suppresses DNA synthesis

Our previous studies have shown that the DAN gene product possesses an ability to revert-phenotypes of transformed rat fibroblasts and represents a candidate tumour suppressor gene for neuroblastoma. In the present study, characterisation of DAN was carried out using rat fibroblast 3Y1 cells and their DAN-overexpressor counterparts (S-9). The N-terminal region of DAN (amino acids 1-24) was highly hydrophobic and DAN protein was found to be secreted into the culture medium. When DAN was treated with PNGase F, a enzyme-that cleaves most N-linked carbohydrate residues, the mobility of both cytoplasmic and secreted DAN was increased in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, suggesting DAN is N-glycosylated, irrespective of its localisation. When partially purified, DAN was able, when added to the culture, to suppress DNA synthesis of Rous sarcoma virus-transformed 3Y1 cells, which lack the expression of DAN. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.