In vitro infection of SBC-1 cells, which are c-Kit protein-producing SCLC cells, by these vectors resulted in the expression of artificial c-kit transcripts.
The results suggest that the c-kit gene products may be involved in the pathogenesis of a very restricted subset of human solid tumors such as small cell lung cancer.
Our extensive search for activating mutations naturally occurring in the c-kit gene revealed an amino acid substitution in the transmembrane domain of an SCLC cell line, although the functional consequences of this variant allele are yet to be determined.