Studies of skin tumorigenesis in PGK mosaic mice: many promoter-independent papillomas and carcinomas do not develop from pre-existing promoter-dependent papillomas

The role of mutation in the new cancer paradigm

The almost universal belief that cancer is caused by mutation may gradually be giving way to the belief that cancer begins as a cellular adaptation that involves the local epigenetic silencing of various genes. In my own interpretation of the new epigenetic paradigm, the genes epigenetically suppressed are genes that normally serve in post-embryonic life to suppress and keep suppressed those other genes upon which embryonic development depends. Those other genes, if not silenced or suppressed in the post-embryonic animal, become, I suggest, the oncogenes that are the basis of neoplasia.

Mutations that occur in silenced genes supposedly go unrepaired and are, therefore, postulated to accumulate, but such mutations probably play little or no causative role in neoplasia because they occur in already epigenetically silenced genes. These mutations probably often serve to make the silencing, and therefore the cancer, epigenetically irreversible.

Prediction and monitoring of the carcinogenicity of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs)

Chemical carcinogenesis is a multistage process that includes initiation, promotion, and progression. Some carcinogenic PACs have been shown to activate proto-oncogenes and deactivate tumor-suppression genes in the carcinogenic process. The function of DNA repair processes appears to be changed in some cases by PACs. Many PACs are well known for their carcinogenic activity, but for this activity to be exerted, metabolic activation by microsomal enzymes must occur. The enzyme system responsible for PAC activation is the mixed-function oxidase system and, in particular, cytochrome P-450. In the case of PAHs, oxidation predominantly produces reactive diol-epoxides that can then be converted to carbonium ions as the reactive electrophiles that can then covalently bind to DNA. Regions of high activity exist in PAHs, namely, the "bay," "K," and "L" regions which are associated with pi electron distribution. The diol-epoxides can exist in either syn or anti forms, each of which has two enantiomers producing four stereoisomers in all. Energy considerations favor the formation of the anti form. Nitrogen-containing PACs can be metabolically activated in a manner similar to that for PAHs, or the nitrogen atom can be oxidized to form hydroxylamines. These reactive electrophiles can then form covalently bound DNA adducts. The monitoring of DNA adducts has been used in risk assessment for human exposure to PACs. This form of biomonitoring has advantages over the monitoring of external exposure or body levels of the chemicals in question. In the case of PACs, binding to DNA is an important step in the multistage carcinogenic process. The estimation of DNA adducts has been used in the monitoring of humans exposed to PAHs in a wide range of industrial situations. Recent research has shown a dose-response relationship between PAH adduct levels and human cancer, thus developing molecular epidemiology as a relevant science for the field of risk assessment. Techniques have been developed for the determination of DNA adducts and these include immunochemical, fluorescence spectroscopic, GC-MS, and 32P-postlabeling methods. The 32P-postlabeling assay is by far the most sensitive, with limits of detection being of the order of one adduct in 10(10) normal nucleotides. The use of HPLC for separation of adducted nucleotides in this postlabeling assay is becoming more common and gives better resolution of adducts than does the TLC technique used in the traditional assay. The detection of adducts on hemoglobin and other proteins has been used as a surrogate for DNA adduct estimation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Multistage carcinogenesis in mouse skin

The mouse skin model of multistage carcinogenesis has for many years provided a conceptual framework for studying carcinogenesis mechanisms and potential means for inhibiting specific stages of carcinogenesis. The process of skin carcinogenesis involves the stepwise accumulation of genetic change ultimately leading to malignancy. Initiation, the first step in multistage skin carcinogenesis involves carcinogen-induced genetic changes. A target gene identified for some skin tumor initiators is c-Ha-ras. The second step, the promotion stage, involves processes whereby initiated cells undergo selective clonal expansion to form visible premalignant lesions termed papillomas. The process of tumor promotion involves the production and maintenance of a specific and chronic hyperplasia characterized by a sustained cellular proliferation of epidermal cells. These changes are believed to result from epigenetic mechanisms such as activation of the cellular receptor, protein kinase C, by some classes of tumor promoters. The progression stage involves the conversion of papillomas to malignant tumors, squamous cell carcinomas. The accumulation of additional genetic changes in cells comprising papillomas has been correlated with tumor progression, including trisomies of chromosomes 6 and 7 and loss of heterozygosity. The current review focuses on the mechanisms involved in multistage skin carcinogenesis, a summary of known inhibitors of specific stages and their proposed mechanisms of action, and the relevance of this model system to human cancer.

Increased sensitivity to two-stage skin carcinogenesis of mice heterozygous for the repeated epilation mutation (Er)

Mice heterozygous for repeated epilation mutation (Er) have cutaneous abnormalities that result in repeated loss of hair. Skin papillomas and carcinomas occur spontaneously in such Er/+ mice. BALB/c mice are generally resistant to induced skin cancers. We investigated whether Er/+ heterozygous mice of BALB/c genetic background exhibit increased susceptibility to spontaneous and induced skin tumors. Although none of the Er/+ CXB(N5) mice spontaneously developed skin tumors, they exhibited increased sensitivity to the development of skin papillomas induced by an initiation-promotion regimen. Er/+ mice developed papillomas after 20 micrograms DMBA initiation in the absence of TPA promotion, but the same dose of DMBA was subtumorigenic in +/+ (sibling) mice. Although 15 weeks of TPA promotion resulted in similar tumor susceptibilities, tumor latencies and tumor frequencies in the 2 groups of initiated mice, the papillomas were qualitatively different. Er/+ mice developed more papillomas of the delayed promoter-independent type, which occur after termination of promotion. In contrast, +/+ mice developed more promoter-dependent papillomas, which regress after termination of promotion. Therefore Er/+ mice had a significantly higher number of papillomas than +/+ mice at the termination of the experiment. These results suggest that Er-mutation-induced skin defects not only lead to the repeated loss of hair, but also influence the mode of development of skin papillomas from carcinogen-initiated cells.

Absence of the c-Ha-ras codon 61 point mutation in murine solid tumors induced by subcutaneously applied 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene

The c-Ha-ras-1 codon 61 A----T transversion is a highly consistent finding in murine skin DMBA-initiated/TPA-promoted papillomas and carcinomas. We performed Xba I RFLP analysis on DNA from clonal cell lines derived from 11 independent papillomas and a single carcinoma derived from topically applied DMBA and compared this to RFLP on DNA from 7 clonal fibrosarcoma cell lines derived from tumors arising after subcutaneous administration of the same carcinogen. The A----T point mutation was present in all of the papillomas and carcinoma derived by the classic DMBA-TPA protocol but was absent in all of the fibrosarcomas arising after subcutaneous administration of DMBA.

Carcinogen-induced mutations in the mouse c-Ha-ras gene provide evidence of multiple pathways for tumor progression

A number of mouse skin tumors initiated by the carcinogens N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), methylnitrosourea (MNU), 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA), and 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) have been shown to contain activated Ha-ras genes. In each case, the point mutations responsible for activation have been characterized. Results presented demonstrate the carcinogen-specific nature of these ras mutations. For each initiating agent, a distinct spectrum of mutations is observed. Most importantly, the distribution of ras gene mutations is found to differ between benign papillomas and carcinomas, suggesting that molecular events occurring at the time of initiation influence the probability with which papillomas progress to malignancy. This study provides molecular evidence in support of the existence of subsets of papillomas with differing progression frequencies. Thus, the alkylating agents MNNG and MNU induced exclusively G ---- A transitions at codon 12, with this mutation being found predominantly in papillomas. MCA initiation produced both codon 13 G ---- T and codon 61 A ---- T transversions in papillomas; only the G ---- T mutation, however, was found in carcinomas. These findings provide strong evidence that the mutational activation of Ha-ras occurs as a result of the initiation process and that the nature of the initiating event can affect the probability of progression to malignancy.

Polyclonal origin of mouse skin papillomas

We show that, from the earliest morphologically recognisable stages of development, mouse skin papillomas induced by a chemical initiation-promotion regime are polyclonal. We have demonstrated polyclonality directly by immunohistochemical staining of the mosaic cell populations in embryo aggregation chimaeras, a method which removes some of the uncertainties of previous conclusions based on analysis using electrophoretic polymorphisms. The findings may imply that initiation within a single cell and promotion of its clonal descendents is not a sufficient explanation for the origin of these tumours and that interaction between cells of more than one clone is involved.

Demethylation of specific sites in the 5' region of the inactive X-linked human phosphoglycerate kinase gene correlates with the appearance of nuclease sensitivity and gene expression

X8/6T2, a hamster-human hybrid cell line which contains an inactive human X chromosome, was treated with 5-azacytidine and selected for derepression of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Clones were examined for coreactivation of the phosphoglycerate kinase gene (Pgk). Of 68 of these hybrids, approximately 20% expressed measurable human phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) activity. A 600-base-pair region of the Pgk 5' CpG cluster was examined for the methylation status of eight CCGG sites (site 1 being 5'-most) in a number of PGK-negative and PGK-positive cell lines. The inactive X chromosome is normally methylated at all eight sites, and this was also true for the majority of X8/6T2 cells. However, several PGK-negative hybrids were demethylated in the site 3 to site 6 region. PGK activity correlated with demethylation at both sites 6 and 7. The data for PGK-positive and -negative hybrids indicate that demethylation at or near site 7 was necessary for reactivation of Pgk. Chromatin sensitivity to MspI digestion in the nuclei of male lymphoblastoid cells and several PGK-positive and PGK-negative hybrids was examined. PGK-positive cell lines were hypersensitive to digestion, while PGK-negative hybrids were resistant. Cleavage at sites 6 and 7 was observed in all PGK-positive cell lines at each MspI concentration examined. Sites 7 and 8 were less accessible to digestion than site 6. Cleavage in the site 2 to site 5 region was observable at the lowest MspI concentration. In most PGK-positive hybrids, a nonspecific endogenous nuclease detected the presence of a hypersensitive region spanning at least 450 base pairs, bounded at the 3' end near HpaII site 6. Nuclease hypersensitivity appears to be related to promoter activity, because sites 7 and 8 are in transcribed regions of the gene. These data indicate that specific sites within the CpG cluster have a dominant controlling influence over the Pgk promoter conformation and the transcriptional activation of Pgk.

Demethylation of specific sites in the 5' region of the inactive X-linked human phosphoglycerate kinase gene correlates with the appearance of nuclease sensitivity and gene expression

X8/6T2, a hamster-human hybrid cell line which contains an inactive human X chromosome, was treated with 5-azacytidine and selected for derepression of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Clones were examined for coreactivation of the phosphoglycerate kinase gene (Pgk). Of 68 of these hybrids, approximately 20% expressed measurable human phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) activity. A 600-base-pair region of the Pgk 5' CpG cluster was examined for the methylation status of eight CCGG sites (site 1 being 5'-most) in a number of PGK-negative and PGK-positive cell lines. The inactive X chromosome is normally methylated at all eight sites, and this was also true for the majority of X8/6T2 cells. However, several PGK-negative hybrids were demethylated in the site 3 to site 6 region. PGK activity correlated with demethylation at both sites 6 and 7. The data for PGK-positive and -negative hybrids indicate that demethylation at or near site 7 was necessary for reactivation of Pgk. Chromatin sensitivity to MspI digestion in the nuclei of male lymphoblastoid cells and several PGK-positive and PGK-negative hybrids was examined. PGK-positive cell lines were hypersensitive to digestion, while PGK-negative hybrids were resistant. Cleavage at sites 6 and 7 was observed in all PGK-positive cell lines at each MspI concentration examined. Sites 7 and 8 were less accessible to digestion than site 6. Cleavage in the site 2 to site 5 region was observable at the lowest MspI concentration. In most PGK-positive hybrids, a nonspecific endogenous nuclease detected the presence of a hypersensitive region spanning at least 450 base pairs, bounded at the 3' end near HpaII site 6. Nuclease hypersensitivity appears to be related to promoter activity, because sites 7 and 8 are in transcribed regions of the gene. These data indicate that specific sites within the CpG cluster have a dominant controlling influence over the Pgk promoter conformation and the transcriptional activation of Pgk.

High-frequency reactivation of X-linked genes in Chinese hamster X human hybrid cells

Three genes on the human inactive X chromosome retained in the Chinese hamster X human hybrid cell line X8/6T2 have been reactivated using the demethylating agent, 5-azacytidine (5-aza-CR). Pulse-labeling and histochemical methods permitted detection and measurement of reactivation rates of the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (Hpt) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6pd) genes within 48 h of treatment. About 50% of the cells became active for these genes, which represents a reactivation rate some 30-fold greater than previously reported in similar systems. The phosphoglycerate kinase (Pgk) gene was not reactivated as frequently as the Hpt or G6pd genes. Segregation analysis of progeny of treated cells showed that enzyme-positive and enzyme-negative cells were produced in proportions supporting the notion that 5-aza-CR causes demethylation by replicative loss and that demethylation leads to reactivation.