Potter and Beverly Mock identified genetically inherited alleles of genes that control the susceptibility of BALB/c mice to plasma cell tumor development. Mock performed one of the first genome-wide linkage studies in mice showing that multiple genes are linked to tumor susceptibility. Then they created congenic strains of mice to fine map the genes to specific regions of chromosomes, leading to the identification of two tumor suppressors (p16 and Mndal) and a growth promoting gene (mTOR) as plasma cell tumor susceptibility genes. BALB/c mice carry a rare allele of mTOR. Today, these tumor incidence studies have been used to inform potential drug combination therapies for people with multiple myeloma.
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Beverly Mock, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics, NCI/CCR
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NCI Collection. Photo by Bill Branson
Creating a New Technique
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Potter wanted to study the early stages of tumor growth, but these tumors only grew in animals. In 1986, Richard Nordan, a graduate student in Potter’s laboratory found that the tumors could be grown in tissue culture, if they were grown in liquids from cultured white blood cells called macrophages. Nordan identified the component in the liquid as interleukin-6, which is involved in the growth and differentiation of normal white blood cells. Potter and Nordan had discovered a way to grow tumors in the laboratory and a new tool for scientists of many specialities.
