Role of c-Myc in intestinal tumorigenesis of the Apc min/+ mouse1

NA Ignatenko, H Holubec, DG Besselsen… - Cancer biology & …, 2006 - Taylor & Francis
NA Ignatenko, H Holubec, DG Besselsen, KA Blohm-Mangone, J Padilla-Torres, RB Nagle…
Cancer biology & therapy, 2006Taylor & Francis
The c-MYC oncogene plays an important role in tumorigenesis and is commonly highly
expressed in gastrointestinal cancers. In colon cells, c-MYC is regulated by the
adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc) tumor suppressor gene. Multiple intestinal neoplasia
(ApcMin/+ or Min) mice are heterozygous for a truncating Apc mutation and serve as a
model of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) disease. To study the role of c-Myc in the
mutant Apc-mediated colon tumorigenesis, we have developed a transgenic mouse with the …
The c-MYC oncogene plays an important role in tumorigenesis and is commonly highly expressed in gastrointestinal cancers. In colon cells, c-MYC is regulated by the adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc) tumor suppressor gene. Multiple intestinal neoplasia (ApcMin/+ or Min) mice are heterozygous for a truncating Apc mutation and serve as a model of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) disease. To study the role of c-Myc in the mutant Apc-mediated colon tumorigenesis, we have developed a transgenic mouse with the conditional deletion of the floxed c-Myc alleles in the intestinal crypts of ApcMin/+ mice (ApcMin/+; c-Mycfl/fl). The floxed c-Myc deletion was initiated via a Cre recombinase controlled by the intestine-specific transcriptional regulatory elements of the liver fatty acid-binding protein gene (Fabpl4ืat-132). Fabpl4ืat-132-mediated Cre expression and recombination resulted in a two-fold decrease in c-MYC protein expression with no effect on intestinal tract morphology. Small intestinal tumorigenesis was significantly suppressed throughout the small intestinal tract of ApcMin/+; c-Mycfl/fl mice compared to c-Myc wild type littermates. In ApcMin/+; c-Mycfl/fl mice, the intestinal apoptosis was higher in the areas of the small intestine with the decreased c-Myc protein expression (P= 0.0016, compared to their littermates with the wild type c-Myc). Thus, conditional inactivation of c-Myc, mediated by Fabpl4ืat-132-driven Cre-recombinase, suppresses Apc-dependent intestinal tumorigenesis in adult ApcMin/+) mice, without apparent effect on normal intestinal mucosa.
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