Creating oral squamous cancer cells: a cellular model of oral-esophageal carcinogenesis.
Immortalization and malignant transformation are important steps in tumor development. The ability to induce these processes from normal human epithelial cells with genetic alterations frequently found in the corresponding human cancer would significantly enhance our understanding of tumor development. Alterations in several key intracellular regulatory pathways (the pRB, p53, and mitogenic signaling pathways and the telomere maintenance system) appear to be sufficient for the neoplastic transformation of normal human cells. Nevertheless, in vitro transformation models to date depend on viral oncogenes, most prominently the simian virus 40 early region, to induce immortalization and malignant transformation of normal human epithelial cells. Here, we demonstrate a transformation model creating oral-esophageal cancer cells by using a limited set of genetic alterations frequently observed in the corresponding human cancer. In a stepwise model, cyclin D1 overexpression and p53 inactivation led to immortalization of oral keratinocytes. Additional ectopic epithelial growth factor receptor overexpression followed by c-myc overexpression as well as consecutive reactivation of telomerase induced by epithelial growth factor receptor sufficed to transform oral epithelial cells, truly recapitulating the development of the corresponding human disease.
Goessel
Gitta
G
Department of Medicine and Institute for Molecular Medicine and Cell Research, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Strasse 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany.
Quante
Michael
M
Hahn
William C
WC
Harada
Hideki
H
Heeg
Steffen
S
Suliman
Yasir
Y
Doebele
Michaela
M
von Werder
Alexander
A
Fulda
Christine
C
Nakagawa
Hiroshi
H
Rustgi
Anil K
AK
Blum
Hubert E
HE
Opitz
Oliver G
OG
D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000209:etiology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019938:Cyclin D1 / Q000032:analysis; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000032:analysis; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000166:cytology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000502:physiology; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000502:physiology; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000032:analysis; D016615:Telomere; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis
D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D019938:Cyclin D1; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt