p53 increases experimental metastatic capacity of murine carcinoma cells

Transfection of a cloned p53 gene into a murine bladder carcinoma cell with a low metastatic capacity led to elevated levels of p53 protein in clonal transfectants. After intravenous inoculation into syngeneic mice, p53-transfected clones showed significantly increased metastatic potential in comparison with control transfectants. The observed change did not seem to be due to a change in growth potential per se since the cell lines showed similar growth properties in vitro.