Project description:The specific deletion of Rb gene in epidermis leads to altered proliferation and differentiation, but not to the development of spontaneous tumors. Our previous data have demonstrated the existence of a functional compensation of Rb loss by Rbl1 (p107) in as the phenotypic differences with respect to controls are intensified. However, the possible evolution of this aggravated phenotype, in particular in relationship with tumorigenesis, has not been evaluated due to the premature death of the double deficient mice. We have now investigated whether p107 can also act as a tumor suppressor in pRb-deficient epidermis using different experimental approaches. We found spontaneous tumor development in doubly-deficient skin grafts. Moreover, Rb-deficient keratinocytes are susceptible to Ha-ras-induced transformation, and this susceptibility is enhanced by p107 loss. Further functional analyses, including microarray gene expression profiling, indicated that the loss of p107, in the absence of pRb, produces the reduction of p53-dependent pro-apoptotic signals. Overall, our data demonstrate that p107 behaves as a tumor suppressor in epidermis in the absence of pRb and suggest novel tumor-suppressive roles for p107 in the context of functional p53 and activated Ras Keywords: epidermis, tumorigenesis, pRb, p107, Ras, p53, apoptosis
Project description:The specific deletion of Rb gene in epidermis leads to altered proliferation and differentiation, but not to the development of spontaneous tumors. Our previous data have demonstrated the existence of a functional compensation of Rb loss by Rbl1 (p107) in as the phenotypic differences with respect to controls are intensified. However, the possible evolution of this aggravated phenotype, in particular in relationship with tumorigenesis, has not been evaluated due to the premature death of the double deficient mice. We have now investigated whether p107 can also act as a tumor suppressor in pRb-deficient epidermis using different experimental approaches. We found spontaneous tumor development in doubly-deficient skin grafts. Moreover, Rb-deficient keratinocytes are susceptible to Ha-ras-induced transformation, and this susceptibility is enhanced by p107 loss. Further functional analyses, including microarray gene expression profiling, indicated that the loss of p107, in the absence of pRb, produces the reduction of p53-dependent pro-apoptotic signals. Overall, our data demonstrate that p107 behaves as a tumor suppressor in epidermis in the absence of pRb and suggest novel tumor-suppressive roles for p107 in the context of functional p53 and activated Ras Experiment Overall Design: Pools from RNA whole skin extracts from 3 animals of same genotype were done and analyzed, per duplicate, in mouse microarrays. Comparison was performed between the 4 different genotypes.
Project description:The specific ablation of Rb1 gene in stratified epithelia (RbF/F;K14cre) promotes proliferation and altered differentiation but is insufficient to produce spontaneous tumors. The pRb relative, p107, compensates some of the functions of pRb in these tissues, however RbF/F;K14cre;p107-/- mice die postnatally. Acute pRb loss in stratified epithelia, using an inducible mouse model (RbF/F;K14creERTM), shows that p107 exerts specific tumor suppressor functions in its absence. After simultaneous absence of pRb and p107, p53 transcriptional function is impaired and Pten expression is reduced. All mutant mice develop spontaneous squamous tumors carcinomas rapidly. Gene expression analysis of mouse tumors, besides supporting the impaired p53 function and the susceptibility to Akt/mTOR inhibitors, also revealed significant overlap with human squamous carcinomas. Thus, RbF/F;K14creERTM;p107-/- may constitute a new mouse model for these malignancies. Collectively, these data demonstrate the existence of a previously unreported functional connection between pRb, Pten and p53 tumor suppressors, through p107, of a particular relevance in squamous tumor development.
Project description:The epidermal-specific ablation of Rb gene leads to increased proliferation, aberrant differentiation, and the disengagement of these processes in vivo and in vitro. These differences in phenotype are more severe with the loss of p107, demonstrating the functional compensation between pRb and p107. As p107 and p130 also exert overlapping functions in epidermis, we have generated Rb(F19/F19)K14cre;Rbl2-/- (pRb-;p130-) mice to analyze possible functional redundancies between pRb and p130. The epidermal phenotype was very similar between pRb- and pRb-;p130- mice, suggesting that pRb and p130 activities are not redundant in epidermis. Importantly, we can correlate the proliferation differences with specific changes in gene expression between pRb-, pRb-;p107- and pRb-;p130- primary keratinocytes using microarray analysis, and explain the phenotypes in the context of altered E2F expression and functionality. Our findings support a model in which the distinct retinoblastoma family members, in conjunction with E2F members, play a central role in regulating epidermal homeostasis through specific or overlapping activities. Keywords: skin, pRb, transgenic mice, p130
Project description:The specific ablation of Rb1 gene in stratified epithelia (RbF/F;K14cre) promotes proliferation and altered differentiation but is insufficient to produce spontaneous tumors. The pRb relative, p107, compensates some of the functions of pRb in these tissues, however RbF/F;K14cre;p107-/- mice die postnatally. Acute pRb loss in stratified epithelia, using an inducible mouse model (RbF/F;K14creERTM), shows that p107 exerts specific tumor suppressor functions in its absence. After simultaneous absence of pRb and p107, p53 transcriptional function is impaired and Pten expression is reduced. All mutant mice develop spontaneous squamous tumors carcinomas rapidly. Gene expression analysis of mouse tumors, besides supporting the impaired p53 function and the susceptibility to Akt/mTOR inhibitors, also revealed significant overlap with human squamous carcinomas. Thus, RbF/F;K14creERTM;p107-/- may constitute a new mouse model for these malignancies. Collectively, these data demonstrate the existence of a previously unreported functional connection between pRb, Pten and p53 tumor suppressors, through p107, of a particular relevance in squamous tumor development. Gene expression was compared between normal mouse skin and carcinomas arising in the skin of RbF/F;K14creERTM;p107-/- mouse. All mice were treated with tamoxifen.
Project description:The epidermal-specific ablation of Rb gene leads to increased proliferation, aberrant differentiation, and the disengagement of these processes in vivo and in vitro. These differences in phenotype are more severe with the loss of p107, demonstrating the functional compensation between pRb and p107. As p107 and p130 also exert overlapping functions in epidermis, we have generated Rb(F19/F19)K14cre;Rbl2-/- (pRb-;p130-) mice to analyze possible functional redundancies between pRb and p130. The epidermal phenotype was very similar between pRb- and pRb-;p130- mice, suggesting that pRb and p130 activities are not redundant in epidermis. Importantly, we can correlate the proliferation differences with specific changes in gene expression between pRb-, pRb-;p107- and pRb-;p130- primary keratinocytes using microarray analysis, and explain the phenotypes in the context of altered E2F expression and functionality. Our findings support a model in which the distinct retinoblastoma family members, in conjunction with E2F members, play a central role in regulating epidermal homeostasis through specific or overlapping activities. Experiment Overall Design: Total RNA from pooled cells from each genotype were analyzed, per duplicate (pRb-/-;p107-/-, or pRb-/-;p130-/-) or triplicate (wild type, or pRb-/-), in mouse microarrays. Comparison was performed between the 4 different genotypes.
Project description:The squamous cell carcinomas represent the aggressive type of non melanoma skin cancer, the most frequent malignancy among human population. We have studied here the possible relationship between these two pathways in skin using epidermal-specific mutant mice. Loss of p53, but not pRb, produces spontaneous tumor development, indicating that, contrary to pRb, p53 is the predominant tumor suppressor acting in mouse epidermis. The simultaneous inactivation of pRb and p53 does not aggravate the epidermal phenotype observed in Rb-deficient mice in terms of proliferation and/or differentiation. However, in doubly deficient mice spontaneous skin tumor development is severely accelerated. The tumors are aggressive, undifferentiated and display a hair follicle origin. Detailed analysis indicates that the acceleration is mediated by premature activation of the EGFR/Akt pathway, resulting in increased angiogenesis. The molecular characteristics of this model provide valuable tools to understand epidermal tumor formation, and may ultimately contribute to the development of therapies for the treatment of aggressive squamous cancer. Keywords: Squamous cell carcinoma, Epidermis, Tumorigenesis, pRb, p53, Akt, Angiogenesis
Project description:The squamous cell carcinomas represent the aggressive type of non melanoma skin cancer, the most frequent malignancy among human population. We have studied here the possible relationship between these two pathways in skin using epidermal-specific mutant mice. Loss of p53, but not pRb, produces spontaneous tumor development, indicating that, contrary to pRb, p53 is the predominant tumor suppressor acting in mouse epidermis. The simultaneous inactivation of pRb and p53 does not aggravate the epidermal phenotype observed in Rb-deficient mice in terms of proliferation and/or differentiation. However, in doubly deficient mice spontaneous skin tumor development is severely accelerated. The tumors are aggressive, undifferentiated and display a hair follicle origin. Detailed analysis indicates that the acceleration is mediated by premature activation of the EGFR/Akt pathway, resulting in increased angiogenesis. The molecular characteristics of this model provide valuable tools to understand epidermal tumor formation, and may ultimately contribute to the development of therapies for the treatment of aggressive squamous cancer. Experiment Overall Design: Pools from RNA whole skin extracts from 3 animals of same genotype were done and analyzed, per duplicate, in mouse microarrays. Comparison was performed between the 4 different genotypes.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.
Project description:We found that BAP1 (BRCA1 Associated Protein-1) shows loss of heterozygosity in over 25% of pancreatic cancer patients and functions as tumor suppressor. Conditional deletion of Bap1 in murine pancreas led to genomic instability, accumulation of DNA damage, and an inflammatory response that evolved to pancreatitis with full penetrance. Concomitant expression of oncogenic KrasG12D led to malignant transformation and development of invasive and metastatic pancreatic cancer. At the molecular level, BAP1 maintains the integrity of the exocrine pancreas by regulating genomic stability and its loss confers sensitivity to radio- and platinum-based therapies.