Effect of Bcl11b genotypes and gamma-radiation on the development of mouse thymic lymphomas

Bcl11b is a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor gene and expressed in many tissues such as thymus, brain and skin. Irradiated Bcl11b^+/− heterozygous mice mostly develop thymic lymphomas, but the preference of Bcl11b inactivation for thymic lymphomas remains to be addressed. We produced Bcl11b^+/− heterozygous and Bcl11b wild-type mice of p53^+/− background and compared their incidence of γ-ray induced thymic lymphomas. Majority of the tumors in p53^+/− mice were skin tumors, and only 5 (36%) of the 14 tumors were thymic lymphomas. In contrast, Bcl11b^+/−p53^+/− doubly heterozygous mice developed thymic lymphomas at the frequency of 27 (79%) of the 34 tumors developed (P = 0.008). This indicates the preference of Bcl11b impairment for thymic lymphoma development. We also analyzed loss of the wild-type alleles in the 27 lymphomas, a predicted consequence given by γ-irradiation. However, the loss frequency was low, only six (22%) for Bcl11b and five (19%) for p53. The frequencies did not differ from those of spontaneously developed thymic lymphomas in the doubly heterozygous mice, though the latency of lymphoma development markedly differed between them. This suggests that the main contribution of irradiation at least in those mice is not for the tumor initiation by inducing allelic losses but probably for the promotion of thymic lymphoma development.     

Mdm2 haplo-insufficiency profoundly inhibits Myc-induced lymphomagenesis

Mdm2 harnesses the p53 tumor suppressor, yet loss of one Mdm2 allele in Mdm2(+/-) mice has heretofore not been shown to impair tumor development. Here we report that Mdm2 haplo-insufficiency profoundly suppresses lymphomagenesis in E micro -myc transgenic mice. Mdm2(+/-)E micro -myc transgenics had greatly protracted rates of B cell lymphoma development with life spans twice that of wild-type transgenic littermates. Im paired lymphoma development was associated with drastic reductions in peripheral B cell numbers in Mdm2(+/-)E micro -myc transgenics, and primary pre-B cells from Mdm2(+/-)E micro -myc transgenics and Mdm2(+/-) littermates were extremely susceptible to spontaneous apoptosis. Loss of p53 rescued all of the effects of Mdm2 haplo-insufficiency, indicating they were p53 dependent. Furthermore, half of the lymphomas that ultimately emerged in Mdm2(+/-)E micro -myc transgenics harbored inactivating mutations in p53, and the majority overcame haplo-insufficiency by overexpressing Mdm2. These results support the concept that Mdm2 functions are rate limiting in lymphomagenesis and that targeting Mdm2 will enhance p53-mediated apoptosis, compromising tumor development and/or maintenance.     

p53 prevents maturation of T cell development to the immature CD4-CD8+ stage in Bcl11b-/- mice

Signaling pathways such as the pre-TCR and Wnt pathways regulate alpha/beta T cell differentiation in thymus. Mice lacking an essential component of the pre-TCR exhibit arrest at the (CD4(-)CD8(-)) (CD44(-)CD25(+)) stage (DN3) of thymocyte development, and introduction of p53 deficiency into those mice abrogates this arrest, resulting in transition to the (CD4(+)CD8(+)) double-positive (DP) stage. This paper examines the effect of inactivation of p53 on thymocyte development in Bcl11b(-/-) mice that exhibit arrest at the DN3 or (CD4(-)CD8(+)) immature single-positive (ISP) stage. No DP thymocytes were detected in thymocytes of adoptive transfer experiments in scid mice that were derived from p53(-/-)Bcl11b(-/-) precursors but ISP thymocytes increased in the proportion and in the cell number approximately three times higher than those from Bcl11b(-/-) precursors. Consistently, the level of apoptosis decreased to the level of wild-type precursors. These results suggest that inactivation of p53 is sufficient for DN3 thymocytes to differentiate into the ISP, but not to DP, stage of thymocyte development in Bcl11b(-/-) mice. This provides evidence for a novel p53-mediated checkpoint that regulates the transition from the DN3 to ISP stage of thymocyte development.     

Homozygous deletions and point mutations of the Rit1/Bcl11b gene in gamma-ray induced mouse thymic lymphomas

Allelic loss (LOH) mapping and sequence analysis were conducted for gamma-ray induced mouse thymic lymphomas and a novel tumor suppressor gene, Rit1/Bcl11b, on chromosome 12 was isolated. Bi-allelic changes were found in 17 of the 66 p53-proficient lymphomas with Rit1 LOH but in only 2 of the 54 p53-deficient lymphomas. This suggests an association between the presence of functional p53 and inactivation of the Rit1 gene in the lymphoma development. Introduction of Rit1 into HeLa cells lacking Rit1 expression suppressed cell growth. These results indicate that loss-of-function mutations of Rit1 contribute to mouse lymphomagenesis and possibly to human cancer development.     

Bcl10 is an essential regulator for A20 gene expression

A20, a tumor suppressor in several types of lymphomas, has been suggested to be an nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) target gene; conversely, the deubiquitylation activity of A20 is required for inhibition of Bcl10-mediated activation of NF-κB. BCL10, which is activated in a recurrent chromosomal translocation that causes human mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas, is known to be essential for NF-κB activation in B cells. We report here that Bcl10 upregulates endogenous A20 gene expression in B lymphocytes upon B-cell receptor engagement of anti-IgM. Transient transfection assays in HEK 293 cells indicate that Bcl10 can activate the A20 promoter, which contains NF-κB-binding sites. We also construct a theoretical structure of mouse Bcl10 and analyze the structure by molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulation. Lastly, we found that marginal zone B cells from BCL10-transgenic mice proliferate more readily than wild-type B cells, whereas, surprisingly, the transgenic follicular B cells from these mice proliferate comparably to wild-type cells. Collectively, our results indicate that Bcl10 is an essential regulator of A20 gene expression and B-cell proliferation mediated by B-cell receptor signaling.     

Histone H2AX: a dosage-dependent suppressor of oncogenic translocations and tumors

We employed gene targeting to study H2AX, a histone variant phosphorylated in chromatin surrounding DNA double-strand breaks. Mice deficient for both H2AX and p53 (H(delta/delta)P(-/-)) rapidly developed immature T and B lymphomas and solid tumors. Moreover, H2AX haploinsufficiency caused genomic instability in normal cells and, on a p53-deficient background, early onset of various tumors including more mature B lymphomas. Most H2AX(delta/delta)p53(-/-) or H2AX(+/delta)p53(-/-) B lineage lymphomas harbored chromosome 12 (IgH)/15 (c-myc) translocations with hallmarks of either aberrant V(D)J or class switch recombination. In contrast, H2AX(delta/delta)p53(-/-) thymic lymphomas had clonal translocations that did not involve antigen receptor loci and which likely occurred during cellular expansion. Thus, H2AX helps prevent aberrant repair of both programmed and general DNA breakage and, thereby, functions as a dosage-dependent suppressor of genomic instability and tumors in mice. Notably, H2AX maps to a cytogenetic region frequently altered in human cancers, possibly implicating similar functions in man.     

Loss of p53 Ser18 and Atm results in embryonic lethality without cooperation in tumorigenesis

Phosphorylation at murine Serine 18 (human Serine 15) is a critical regulatory process for the tumor suppressor function of p53. p53Ser18 residue is a substrate for ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and ATM-related (ATR) protein kinases. Studies of mice with a germ-line mutation that replaces Ser18 with Ala (p53(S18A) mice) have demonstrated that loss of phosphorylation of p53Ser18 leads to the development of tumors, including lymphomas, fibrosarcomas, leukemia and leiomyosarcomas. The predominant lymphoma is B-cell lymphoma, which is in contrast to the lymphomas observed in Atm(-/-) animals. This observation and the fact that multiple kinases phosphorylate p53Ser18 suggest Atm-independent tumor suppressive functions of p53Ser18. Therefore, in order to examine p53Ser18 function in relationship to ATM, we analyzed the lifespan and tumorigenesis of mice with combined mutations in p53Ser18 and Atm. Surprisingly, we observed no cooperation in survival and tumorigenesis in compound p53(S18A) and Atm(-/-) animals. However, we observed embryonic lethality in the compound mutant animals. In addition, the homozygous p53Ser18 mutant allele impacted the weight of Atm(-/-) animals. These studies examine the genetic interaction of p53Ser18 and Atm in vivo. Furthermore, these studies demonstrate a role of p53Ser18 in regulating embryonic survival and motor coordination.     

Analysis of changes in DNA copy number in radiation-induced thymic lymphomas of susceptible C57BL/6, resistant C3H and hybrid F1 Mice

Radiation-induced thymic lymphoma in mice is a useful model for studying both the mechanism of radiation carcinogenesis and genetic susceptibility to tumor development. Using array-comparative genomic hybridization, we analyzed genome-wide changes in DNA copy numbers in radiation-induced thymic lymphomas that had developed in susceptible C57BL/6 and resistant C3H mice and their hybrids, C3B6F1 and B6C3F1 mice. Besides aberrations at known relevant genetic loci including Ikaros and Bcl11b and trisomy of chromosome 15, we identified strain-associated genomic imbalances on chromosomes 5, 10 and 16 and strain-unassociated trisomy of chromosome 14 as frequent aberrations. In addition, biallelic rearrangements at Tcrb were detected more frequently in tumors from C57BL/6 mice than in those from C3H mice, suggesting aberrant V(D)J recombination and a possible link with tumor susceptibility. The frequency and spectrum of these copy-number changes in lymphomas from C3B6F1 and B6C3F1 mice were similar to those in C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, the loss of heterozygosity analyses of tumors in F(1) mice indicated that allelic losses at Ikaros and Bcl11b were caused primarily by multilocus deletions, whereas those at the Cdkn2a/Cdkn2b and Pten loci were due mainly to uniparental disomy. These findings provide important clues to both the mechanisms for accumulation of aberrations during radiation-induced lymphomagenesis and the different susceptibilities of C57BL/6 and C3H mice.     

Bax loss impairs Myc-induced apoptosis and circumvents the selection of p53 mutations during Myc-mediated lymphomagenesis

The ARF and p53 tumor suppressors mediate Myc-induced apoptosis and suppress lymphoma development in E mu-myc transgenic mice. Here we report that the proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bax also mediates apoptosis triggered by Myc and inhibits Myc-induced lymphomagenesis. Bax-deficient primary pre-B cells are resistant to the apoptotic effects of Myc, and Bax loss accelerates lymphoma development in E mu-myc transgenics in a dose-dependent fashion. Eighty percent of lymphomas arising in wild-type E mu-myc transgenics have alterations in the ARF-Mdm2-p53 tumor suppressor pathway characterized by deletions in ARF, mutations or deletions of p53, and overexpression of Mdm2. The absence of Bax did not alter the frequency of biallelic deletion of ARF in lymphomas arising in E mu-myc transgenic mice or the rate of tumorigenesis in ARF-null mice. Furthermore, Mdm2 was overexpressed at the same frequency in lymphomas irrespective of Bax status, suggesting that Bax resides in a pathway separate from ARF and Mdm2. Strikingly, lymphomas from Bax-null E mu-myc transgenics lacked p53 alterations, whereas 27% of the tumors in Bax(+/-) E mu-myc transgenic mice contained p53 mutations or deletions. Thus, the loss of Bax eliminates the selection of p53 mutations and deletions, but not ARF deletions or Mdm2 overexpression, during Myc-induced tumorigenesis, formally demonstrating that Myc-induced apoptotic signals through ARF/Mdm2 and p53 must bifurcate: p53 signals through Bax, whereas this is not necessarily the case for ARF and Mdm2.     

Losses of both products of the Cdkn2a/Arf locus contribute to asbestos-induced mesothelioma development and cooperate to accelerate tumorigenesis

The CDKN2A/ARF locus encompasses overlapping tumor suppressor genes p16(INK4A) and p14(ARF), which are frequently co-deleted in human malignant mesothelioma (MM). The importance of p16(INK4A) loss in human cancer is well established, but the relative significance of p14(ARF) loss has been debated. The tumor predisposition of mice singly deficient for either Ink4a or Arf, due to targeting of exons 1α or 1β, respectively, supports the idea that both play significant and nonredundant roles in suppressing spontaneous tumors. To further test this notion, we exposed Ink4a(+/-) and Arf(+/-) mice to asbestos, the major cause of MM. Asbestos-treated Ink4a(+/-) and Arf(+/-) mice showed increased incidence and shorter latency of MM relative to wild-type littermates. MMs from Ink4a(+/-) mice exhibited biallelic inactivation of Ink4a, loss of Arf or p53 expression and frequent loss of p15(Ink4b). In contrast, MMs from Arf(+/-) mice exhibited loss of Arf expression, but did not require loss of Ink4a or Ink4b. Mice doubly deficient for Ink4a and Arf, due to deletion of Cdkn2a/Arf exon 2, showed accelerated asbestos-induced MM formation relative to mice deficient for Ink4a or Arf alone, and MMs exhibited biallelic loss of both tumor suppressor genes. The tumor suppressor function of Arf in MM was p53-independent, since MMs with loss of Arf retained functional p53. Collectively, these in vivo data indicate that both CDKN2A/ARF gene products suppress asbestos carcinogenicity. Furthermore, while inactivation of Arf appears to be crucial for MM pathogenesis, the inactivation of both p16(Ink4a) and p19(Arf) cooperate to accelerate asbestos-induced tumorigenesis.