title: Transgenic mice overexpressing the wild-type form of the HMGA1 gene develop mixed growth hormone/prolactin cell pituitary adenomas and natural killer cell lymphomas.
abstract: Overexpression of HMGA1 proteins is a constant feature of human carcinomas. Moreover, rearrangements of this gene have been detected in several human benign tumors of mesenchymal origin. To define the role of these proteins in cell transformation in vivo, we have generated transgenic mice overexpressing ubiquitously the HMGA1 gene. These mice developed mixed growth hormone/prolactin cell pituitary adenomas and natural killer (NK)-T/NK cell lymphomas. The HMGA1-induced expression of IL-2 and IL-15 proteins and their receptors may account for the onset of these lymphomas. At odds with mice overexpressing a wild-type or a truncated HMGA2 protein, adrenal medullar hyperplasia and pancreatic islet cell hyperplasia frequently occurred and no increase in body size and weight was observed in HMGA1 mice. Taken together, these data indicate an oncogenic role of the HMGA1 gene also in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale del CNR c/o Dipartimento di Biologia e Patologia Cellulare e Molecolare, Università di Napoli Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fedele
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pentimalli
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baldassarre
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Battista
authors.forename: Andres J P
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Klein-Szanto
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kenyon
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Visone
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Martino
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciarmiello
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arra
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Viglietto
authors.forename: Carlo M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Croce
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fusco
mesh_terms: D000313:Adrenal Medulla / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D025741:HMGA1a Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism; D006965:Hyperplasia; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000473:pathology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary; D015175:Prolactinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D025741:HMGA1a Protein; D019382:Human Growth Hormone