Coordinate changes in gene expression which mark the spinous to granular cell transition in epidermis are regulated by protein kinase C.

The protective function of skin depends on successful completion of a tightly regulated multi-step differentiation program, during which the induction of markers for a specific stage in epidermal differentiation is coupled to repression of markers expressed at the preceding stage. We have explored the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in this process using an in vitro model system, in which cultures of primary mouse epidermal keratinocytes are induced to terminally differentiate by raising the Ca2+ concentration in the medium from 0.05 to 0.12 mM. At doses which activate PKC, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and 1-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol block Ca(2+)-mediated induction of the spinous cell markers keratins K1 and K10 at both the protein and mRNA level. TPA and 1-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol also rapidly repress K1 and K10 mRNA expression when added to differentiating keratinocyte cultures already expressing these markers. The inhibition of K1 mRNA expression by TPA is blocked in cells where PKC has been inactivated with bryostatin. TPA-mediated loss of K1 mRNA is also blocked in cells exposed to cycloheximide or actinomycin D implicating a PKC-induced protein factor in this process. The loss of K1 mRNA in TPA-treated cultures is the result of both a selective destabilization of K1 transcripts and a rapid inhibition of K1 gene transcription. In contrast to the dramatic repression of mRNAs typical for spinous cell differentiation, activation of PKC concurrently enhances expression of mRNAs and proteins for the granular cell markers loricrin and filaggrin. This response does not occur in cells pre-treated with bryostatin to inactivate PKC. Our results suggest that PKC is a fundamental regulator of the coordinate changes in keratinocyte gene expression that occur during the spinous to granular cell transition in epidermis.

Specific epidermal protein markers are modulated during calcium-induced terminal differentiation.

Extracellular calcium concentration has been shown to be an important determinant of proliferation rate in a number of cell culture models. Recently, the role of calcium as a regulator of cellular differentiation has also become apparent. This effect of calcium was exemplified by the discovery that keratinocytes of mouse or human origin grew as a proliferating monolayer in medium with a calcium concentration of 0.02-0.09 mM but that proliferation ceased and cells stratified and cornified when calcium was increased greater than 0.1 mM. While the morphological and biological effects of changes in calcium concentration are dramatic in keratinocyte cultures, it has been difficult to identify specific protein changes associated with the modulation of maturation. In vivo, however, several proteins that are markers for stratified squamous epithelia have been identified by specific autoimmune sera. Pemphigoid antigen is a 220-kdalton protein found in the basement membrane and closely associated with the plasma membrane of the basal cell. Pemphigus antigen is a 130-kdalton glycoprotein found on the cell surface of stratifying epithelial cells. Immunofluorescence staining of cells cultured in low Ca2+ or cells switched to high Ca2+ for 48 h before staining demonstrated that pemphigoid antigen was detected in low Ca2+ cultures but was diminished or absent in high Ca2+ cultures and that pemphigus antigen was seen only in high Ca2+ cultures. The synthesis of each antigen was studied in immunoprecipitates of cell lysates radiolabeled with 14C-amino acids or D-[1-14C]glucosamine. Pemphigoid antigen was synthesized mainly by proliferating cells in low Ca2+ medium and its synthesis was decreased by greater than 90% in cells switched to high Ca2+ medium. In contrast, synthesis of pemphigus antigen was detected only in stratifying cells cultured in high Ca2+ medium. These studies indicate that extracellular calcium concentrations which modulate the transition between proliferating and stratifying epidermal cells also modulate, in parallel, the synthesis of specific marker proteins for these cell types.

Expression of murine epidermal differentiation markers is tightly regulated by restricted extracellular calcium concentrations in vitro.

Epidermal differentiation is characterized by a series of coordinated morphological and biochemical changes which result in a highly specialized, highly organized, stratified squamous epithelium. Among the specific markers expressed in differentiating epidermis are (a) two early spinous cell proteins, keratins 1 and 10 (K1 and K10); and (b) two later granular cell proteins, filaggrin and a cornified envelope precursor (CE). In vitro, epidermal basal cells are selectively cultured in 0.05 mM Ca2+ medium, and terminal differentiation is induced when the Ca2+ concentration is increased to 1 mM. However, only a small fraction of the cells express the markers K1, K10, CE, or filaggrin in the higher Ca2+ medium. To explore the factors required for marker expression, cultured epidermal cells were exposed to intermediate Ca2+ concentrations and extracts were analyzed using specific antibody and nucleic acid probes for the four markers of interest. These studies revealed that marker expression was enhanced at a restricted concentration of Ca2+ in the medium of 0.10-0.16 mM. At this Ca2+ concentration, both protein and mRNA levels for each marker were substantially increased, whereas at higher or lower Ca2+ concentrations they were diminished or undetected. The percentage of cells expressing each marker was increased two- to threefold in the permissive Ca2+ medium as determined by immunofluorescence analysis. This optimal level of Ca2+ was required both to initiate and sustain marker expression. At the permissive Ca2+ concentration, expression of the markers was sequential and similar to the order of appearance in vivo. K1 was expressed within 8-12 h and K10 was expressed in the ensuing 12-24-h period. CE and filaggrin were expressed in the subsequent 24 h. Inhibition of K1 expression by cycloheximide suggested that an inducible protein was involved. Other investigators have determined that a shallow Ca2+ gradient exists in epidermis, where the basal cells and spinous cells are in a Ca2+ environment substantially below serum Ca2+ levels. These in vitro results suggest that the Ca2+ environment is a fundamental regulator of expression of epidermal differentiation markers and provide an explanation for the existence of the Ca2+ gradient in vivo.

Mouse differentiation-specific keratins 1 and 10 require a preexisting keratin scaffold to form a filament network.

Keratins 1 (K1) and 10 (K10) are the predominant cytoskeletal intermediate filaments of epidermal cells during transition from the proliferative to the terminal differentiation stage. In situ, formation of the K1/K10 intermediate filament network occurs in the cytoplasm of cells with a preexisting cytoskeleton composed of keratins 5 and 14. To define cytoskeletal interactions permissive for formation of the K1/K10 filamentous network, active copies of mouse K1 and K10 genes were introduced into fibroblasts (NIH 3T3) which do not normally express these proteins. Transient and stable transfectants, as well as heterokaryons produced by fusions with epithelial cells, were evaluated for expression of K1 and K10 proteins and filament formation using specific antibodies. In contrast to keratin pairs K5/K14 and K8/K18, the K1/K10 pair failed to form an extensive keratin filament network on its own, although small isolated dense K1/K10 filament bundles were observed throughout the cytoplasm by EM. K1 and K10 filaments integrated only into the preexisting K5/K14 network upon fusion of the NIH 3T3 (K1/K10) cells with epithelial cells expressing endogenous K5/K14 or with NIH 3T3 cells which were transfected with active copies of the K5 and K14 genes. When combinations of active recombinant gene constructs for keratins 1, 5, 10, and 14 were tested in transient NIH 3T3 transfections, the most intact cytokeratin network observed by immunofluorescence was formed by the K5/K14 pair. The K1/K14 pair was capable of forming a cytoskeletal network, but the network was poorly developed, and usually perinuclear. Transfection of K10 in combination with K5 or K1 resulted in cytoplasmic agglomerates, but not a cytoskeleton. These results suggest that the formation of the suprabasal cytoskeleton in epidermis is dependent on the preexisting basal cell intermediate filament network. Furthermore, restrictions on filament formation appear to be more stringent for K10 than for K1.

Biochemical evidence for keratinization by mouse epidermal cells in culture.

More than 70 percent of the urea-extractable proteins from mouse stratum corneum or from differentiated cells of mouse epidermis grown in culture are two proteins of molecular weight 68,000 (keratin I) and 60,000 (kerae are two proteins of molecular weight 68,000 (keratin 1) and 60,000 (keratin 2), which are present in equimolar amounts on polyacrylamide gels. These proteins are the subunits of the keratin filaments, because when isolated from stratum corneum or cells grown in culture they form native-type epidermal keratin filaments in vitro. These observations provide biochemical evidence that epidermal cells grown in culture synthesize the major differentiation products of the epidermis.

Retinyl acetate: effect on cellular content of RNA in epidermis in cell culture in chemically defined medium.

Cell cultures of epidermis from newborn mice were established in chemically defined medium. Additions of retinyl acetate to these cultures caused a significant increase in cellular RNA content. Addition of insulin and hydrocortisone to the cultures potentiated the effect of retinyl acetate on cellular RNA content.

Expression profile of skin papillomas with high cancer risk displays a unique genetic signature that clusters with squamous cell carcinomas and predicts risk for malignant conversion.

Chemical induction of squamous tumors in the mouse skin induces multiple benign papillomas: high-frequency terminally benign low-risk papillomas and low-frequency high-risk papillomas, the putative precursor lesions to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We have compared the gene expression profile of twenty different early low- and high-risk papillomas with normal skin and SCC. Unsupervised clustering of 514 differentially expressed genes (P<0.001) showed that 9/10 high-risk papillomas clustered with SCC, while 1/10 clustered with low-risk papillomas, and this correlated with keratin markers of tumor progression. Prediction analysis for microarrays (PAM) identified 87 genes that distinguished the two papilloma classes, and a majority of these had a similar expression pattern in both high-risk papillomas and SCC. Additional classifier algorithms generated a gene list that correctly classified unknown benign tumors as low- or high-risk concordant with promotion protocol and keratin profiling. Reduced expression of immune function genes characterized the high-risk papillomas and SCC. Immunohistochemistry confirmed reduced T-cell number in high-risk papillomas, suggesting that reduced adaptive immunity defines papillomas that progress to SCC. These results demonstrate that murine premalignant lesions can be segregated into subgroups by gene expression patterns that correlate with risk for malignant conversion, and suggest a paradigm for generating diagnostic biomarkers for human premalignant lesions with unknown individual risk for malignant conversion.

Quantitation of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II (cisplatin)-DNA-intrastrand adducts in testicular and ovarian cancer patients receiving cisplatin chemotherapy.

The antitumor activity of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II (cisplatin) is believed to be related to its covalent interaction with DNA where a major DNA binding product is an intrastrand N7-bidentate adduct on adjacent deoxyguanosines. A novel immunoassay was used to quantitate this adduct in buffy coat DNA from testicular and ovarian cancer patients undergoing cisplatin therapy. 44 out of 120 samples taken from 45 cisplatin patients had detectable cisplatin-DNA adducts. No adducts were detected in 18 samples of DNA taken from normal controls, patients on other chemotherapy, or patients before treatment. The quantity of measurable adducts increased as a function of cumulative dose of cisplatin. This was observed both during repeated daily infusion of the drug and over long-term, repeated 21-28 d cycles of administration. These results suggested that adduct removal is slow even though the tissue has a relatively rapid turnover. Patients receiving cisplatin for the first time on 56-d cycles, and those given high doses of cisplatin as a "salvage" regimen, did not accumulate adducts as rapidly as patients on first time chemotherapy on 21- or 28-d cycles. Disease response data, evaluated for 33 cisplatin-treated patients, showed a positive correlation between the formation of DNA adducts and response to drug therapy. However, more data will be required to confirm this relationship. These data show that specific immunological probes can readily be applied to quantitate DNA adducts in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy.

Transfection of the EJ rasHa gene into keratinocytes derived from carcinogen-induced mouse papillomas causes malignant progression.

The development of malignant tumors in carcinogen-treated mouse skin appears to involve several genetic changes. Genetic changes which initiate the process are believed to induce alterations in the normal pattern of epidermal differentiation, resulting in the formation of benign tumors, i.e., epidermal papillomas. Subsequent changes appear to be required for the malignant conversion of papillomas to epidermal, squamous-cell carcinomas. Activation of the rasHa gene occurs frequently in chemically induced benign skin papillomas as well as squamous cell carcinomas and thus may represent one mechanism to achieve the initiation step. In the present study, we analyzed several cell lines derived from chemically induced mouse skin papillomas for the presence of transforming oncogenes by transfection of their DNA into NIH 3T3 cells. These papilloma cell lines exhibit an altered differentiation program, i.e., the ability to proliferate under culture conditions favoring terminal differentiation. When DNA from six separate cell lines was tested in the NIH 3T3 transfection assay, active transforming activity was not detected. However, when the EJ rasHa gene was introduced into three of the papilloma cell lines by DNA transfection, transfectants showed an enhanced capacity to proliferate under differentiating culture conditions and formed rapidly growing, anaplastic carcinomas in nude mice. Our findings suggest that in some papilloma cells, a genetic change distinct from rasHa activation may produce an altered differentiation program associated with the initiation step, and this genetic alteration may act in a cooperating fashion with an activated ras gene to result in malignant progression.

Protein kinase Cdelta targets mitochondria, alters mitochondrial membrane potential, and induces apoptosis in normal and neoplastic keratinocytes when overexpressed by an adenoviral vector.

Inactivation of protein kinase Cdelta (PKCdelta) is associated with resistance to terminal cell death in epidermal tumor cells, suggesting that activation of PKCdelta in normal epidermis may be a component of a cell death pathway. To test this hypothesis, we constructed an adenovirus vector carrying an epitope-tagged PKCdelta under a cytomegalovirus promoter to overexpress PKCdelta in normal and neoplastic keratinocytes. While PKCdelta overexpression was detected by immunoblotting in keratinocytes, the expression level of other PKC isozymes, including PKCalpha, PKCepsilon, PKCzeta, and PKCeta, did not change. Calcium-independent PKC-specific kinase activity increased after infection of keratinocytes with the PKCdelta adenovirus. Activation of PKCdelta by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) at a nanomolar concentration was lethal to normal and neoplastic mouse and human keratinocytes overexpressing PKCdelta. Lethality was inhibited by PKC selective inhibitors, GF109203X and Ro-32-0432. TPA-induced cell death was apoptotic as evidenced by morphological criteria, TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling) assay, DNA fragmentation, and increased caspase activity. Subcellular fractionation indicated that PKCdelta translocated to a mitochondrial enriched fraction after TPA activation, and this finding was confirmed by confocal microscopy of cells expressing a transfected PKCdelta-green fluorescent protein fusion protein. Furthermore, activation of PKCdelta in keratinocytes altered mitochondrial membrane potential, as indicated by rhodamine-123 fluorescence. Mitochondrial inhibitors, rotenone and antimycin A, reduced TPA-induced cell death in PKCdelta-overexpressing keratinocytes. These results indicate that PKCdelta can initiate a death pathway in keratinocytes that involves direct interaction with mitochondria and alterations of mitochondrial function.

Enhanced malignant conversion of benign mouse skin tumors by cisplatin.

The chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin, reported to be a complete carcinogen in rodents and a tumor initiator for mouse skin, was tested for activity to enhance the conversion of carcinogen-induced skin papillomas to carcinomas. Initiation of mouse skin by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene followed by 12 weeks of promotion by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate produced seven to eight papillomas/mouse. Ten weekly injections of 100 micrograms of cisplatin into these papilloma-bearing mice induced a 2.3-fold enhancement of conversion relative to the spontaneous rate of 1.9%. Even a single exposure to cisplatin in tumor-bearing mice increased the carcinoma incidence to the same extent as 10 exposures to urethane, an agent previously shown to enhance malignant conversion. At the dose tested, cisplatin was inactive as a complete carcinogen or a tumor promoter. Cisplatin-DNA adducts, measured in samples from skin, liver, and kidneys, were persistent for at least 4 weeks after the last exposure to cisplatin. Thus cisplatin is a relatively potent inducer of the putative genotoxic changes required for conversion of skin tumors from a benign to a malignant phenotype. The activity of cisplatin in the initiation and malignant conversion stages in this animal model for carcinogenesis suggests that patients given cisplatin-based chemotherapy are at increased risk for the development of treatment-induced second cancers.

Transplacental effects of 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT): tumorigenicity in mice and genotoxicity in mice and monkeys.

BACKGROUND: When given during pregnancy, the drug 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT) substantially reduces maternal-fetal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). However, AZT has been shown to be carcinogenic in adult mice after lifetime oral administration. In this study, we assessed the transplacental tumorigenic and genotoxic effects of AZT in the offspring of CD-1 mice and Erythrocebus patas monkeys given AZT orally during pregnancy. METHODS: Pregnant mice were given daily doses of either 12.5 or 25.0 mg AZT on days 12 through 18 of gestation (last 37% of gestation period). Pregnant monkeys were given a daily dose of 10.0 mg AZT 5 days a week for the last 9.5-10 weeks of gestation (final 41%-43% of gestation period). AZT incorporation into nuclear and mitochondrial DNA and the length of chromosomal end (telomere) DNA were examined in multiple tissues of newborn mice and fetal monkeys. Additional mice were followed from birth and received no further treatment until subjected to necropsy and complete pathologic examination at 1 year of age. An anti-AZT radioimmunoassay was used to monitor AZT incorporation into DNA. RESULTS: At 1 year of age, the offspring of AZT-treated mice exhibited statistically significant, dose-dependent increases in tumor incidence and tumor multiplicity in the lungs, liver, and female reproductive organs. AZT incorporation into nuclear and mitochondrial DNA was detected in multiple organs of transplacentally exposed mice and monkeys. Shorter chromosomal telomeres were detected in liver and brain tissues from most AZT-exposed newborn mice but not in tissues from fetal monkeys. CONCLUSIONS: AZT is genotoxic in fetal mice and monkeys and is a moderately strong transplacental carcinogen in mice examined at 1 year of age. Careful long-term follow-up of AZT-exposed children would seem to be appropriate.

The pathogenesis of squamous cell cancer: lessons learned from studies of skin carcinogenesis--thirty-third G. H. A. Clowes Memorial Award Lecture.

The multistage nature of cancer pathogenesis was first defined over 50 years ago by the sequential topical application of chemical agents to mouse skin. Since then, the skin model has provided remarkable insights into the biology, biochemistry, pharmacology, and genetics of carcinogenesis. Discoveries from studies of mouse skin have proved to be landmarks in cancer research including: the binding of carcinogens to DNA; the monoclonal origin of benign and malignant tumors; the powerful tumor-promoting action of phorbol esters; the antipromoting potency of retinoids and steroids; the modifying role of age, caloric intake, and specific dietary constituents on cancer induction; the variable risk for benign tumors to progress to cancer; and the requirement for multiple genetic changes in malignant conversion. Many of these concepts are now widely applied to the interpretation of specific molecular discoveries both in simple experimental systems and in human cancers, but the power of this quantitative, multistage skin carcinogenesis model has made these assessments possible. It has also provided the separation of mechanistically distinct stages in cancer pathogenesis: initiation; promotion; premalignant progression; and malignant conversion. This paper will review our current understanding of the genetic, biological, and biochemical alterations that contribute to the evolution of each of these stages in skin carcinogenesis. These new insights provide an opportunity to replace the traditional operational-based schemata defining the process of carcinogenesis with a working model designed around functional alterations in neoplastic cells.

Modulation of tissue and epidermal transglutaminases in mouse epidermal cells after treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and/or retinoic acid in vivo and in culture.

Retinoic acid (RA) induces tissue transglutaminase (TGASE) and inhibits terminal differentiation induced either by calcium ion or by the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in primary mouse epidermal cells in culture. The relevance of these effects on cultured cells to the antipromoting action of RA was investigated in female BALB/c and CD-1 mice in vivo. Tissue TGASE was distinguished from epidermal TGASE on the basis of different thermolability at pH 9 or elution from the anion exchanger Mono Q. After topical application of 3 to 5 micrograms (10 to 17 nmol) of RA to the shaved back skin, the specific activity of tissue TGASE increased up to 30-fold primarily in the basal cell fraction of Percoll-separated epidermal cells. Enzyme activity returned to basal levels by 7 days. Treatment with TPA (10 micrograms or 17 nmol/mouse) induced an increase in epidermal TGASE which reached a maximum at 12 h after application, primarily in suprabasal cells. RA applied 1 h before TPA caused no reduction of TPA-induced epidermal TGASE, but the increase in tissue TGASE due to RA was markedly inhibited by TPA. The effects of TPA and RA on TGASE activities in primary epidermal cells in culture were similar to those in vivo except that RA reduced the induction of epidermal TGASE by TPA. In culture the induction of epidermal TGASE by TPA was independent of Ca2+ concentration in the medium above 0.03 mM, but cornified envelope formation was markedly enhanced by Ca2+ above the level required for maintaining a basal cell population (0.03 to 0.05 mM). The TPA-induced formation of cornified envelope in the presence of elevated Ca2+ was completely inhibited by RA if cells were pretreated with RA for 24 h. Our results are consistent with RA causing a reprogramming of epidermal cells that alters their response to differentiation stimuli.

Staurosporine induces protein kinase C agonist effects and maturation of normal and neoplastic mouse keratinocytes in vitro.

Staurosporine is a potent but nonselective inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC) and blocks responses to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in several cell types in vitro. In cultured primary mouse keratinocytes, however, staurosporine fails to inhibit TPA-mediated keratinocyte maturation and itself elicits responses that are similar to TPA (T. Sako et al., Cancer Res., 48: 4646-4650, 1988). After exposure to 10 nM staurosporine for 24 h, essentially all keratinocytes undergo morphological differentiation, whereas 160 nM TPA induces this response in about 50% of epidermal cells. These concentrations of staurosporine and TPA cause a 4-5-fold induction of epidermal transglutaminase activity and cornified envelopes, both markers of the terminal stage of keratinocyte differentiation. Staurosporine, but not TPA, also induces morphological and biochemical maturation in 2 neoplastic mouse keratinocyte cell lines, 308 and SP-1. The ability of staurosporine to elicit the same responses as TPA suggested that it may be functioning paradoxically as a PKC agonist in intact keratinocytes. In support of this hypothesis, staurosporine induces ornithine decarboxylase activity, inhibits 125I-labeled epidermal growth factor binding, and induces expression of c-fos mRNA. Down-regulation of PKC by pretreatment of primary keratinocytes with 60 nM bryostatin partially blocks staurosporine-mediated induction of cornified envelopes and inhibition of 125I-labeled epidermal growth factor binding, implicating PKC in these responses. The ability of staurosporine to mimic and/or enhance certain responses to TPA suggests that this agent is acting as a functional PKC agonist in cultured keratinocytes.

The erbstatin analogue methyl 2,5-dihydroxycinnamate cross-links proteins and is cytotoxic to normal and neoplastic epithelial cells by a mechanism independent of tyrosine kinase inhibition.

Differentiation therapy is an attractive option for the treatment of superficial, localized neoplastic lesions of the skin. Topical application of agents that induce differentiation could selectively inhibit tumor cell growth, inducing a program of cell death with the production of cross-linked protein envelopes as the terminal event of this process at the skin surface, effectively eliminating the neoplastic phenotype. The nonspecific kinase inhibitor staurosporine induces cornified envelope assembly in neoplastic keratinocytes and causes tumor regression (A. A. Dlugosz and S. H. Yuspa, Cancer Res., 51: 4677-4684, 1991). In pursuit of less toxic agents, specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors were tested for the ability to induce differentiation in keratinocyte-derived cells. Of a range of inhibitors tested, only MC was able to induce cross-linked protein and consequent cell death in mouse and human primary normal keratinocytes, 308 neoplastic mouse keratinocytes, HPV-18-infected immortalized human keratinocytes, and human lines SQCC-Y1 (squamous carcinoma) and A431 (epidermoid carcinoma). MC increased cross-linked protein in a dose-dependent manner (0.05-1 mM). To confirm differentiation, MC-treated mouse primary normal keratinocytes were tested for activation of the endogenous cross-linking enzyme transglutaminase, but no association was found between transglutaminase activity and MC-induced protein cross-linking. MC also induced protein cross-linking in the fibroblast cell line NIH3T3 and in B16 melanoma cells, in which cornified envelope assembly is not part of the differentiation process. This cross-linking occurred at 4 degrees C, suggesting a nonphysiological process. Western blot analysis of an in vitro assay with purified EGF receptor showed that MC was able to cross-link the receptor. As in NIH3T3 cells, DTT inhibited cross-linking, suggesting that oxidation of MC or an acceptor group may be required for this effect. Thus, MC does not induce differentiation by a physiological mechanism in epithelial cells but causes chemical protein cross-linking into cornified envelope-like structures at high concentration.

Altered growth and differentiation of cultured mouse epidermal cells infected with oncogenic retrovirus: contrasting effects of viruses and chemicals.

Mouse epidermal basal cells can be cultured in medium with a Ca2+ concentration below 0.1 mM and induced to terminally differentiate in medium with higher Ca2+. Infection of basal cells with Kirsten or Harvey sarcoma virus causes a marked stimulation of basal cell proliferation. Challenge of infected basal cell cultures with 0.5 mM Ca2+ medium indicates that terminal differentiation is altered, since infected cultures persist in this medium for long periods without stratifying and sloughing from the culture dish. Infected cultures express much higher levels of protein with a molecular weight of 21,000 than controls, and studies with temperature-sensitive mutants indicate that persistent function of protein with a molecular weight of 21,000 is required for the observed effects of the sarcoma viruses on terminal differentiation. In response to 0.5 mM Ca2+, the proliferation rate is markedly reduced in both control and virally infected cells. However, the proliferation rate of the sarcoma virus-infected cultures is reduced less in response to elevated levels of calcium. Virus-infected cells as well as controls also demonstrate a rise in the differentiation-associated enzymatic activity of epidermal transglutaminase and will terminally differentiate when the multiplicity of infection is below one. These results suggest that sarcoma virus-infected cells are not blocked completely in their program of terminal differentiation in response to 0.5 mM Ca2+ and differ in this respect from epidermal cells altered by exposure to chemical carcinogens and from malignant keratinocytes. Infection with Kirsten or Harvey sarcoma virus and expression of protein with a molecular weight of 21,000 therefore are closely linked to epidermal proliferation and retard, but do not completely block, the program of terminal differentiation. The effects of ras oncogenes on NIH 3T3 cells are discussed relative to the effects of ras oncogenes observed on the primary mouse epidermal cells in the context of multistep models for naturally occurring epithelial cancers.

Formation and removal of specific acetylaminofluorene-DNA adducts in mouse and human cells measured by radioimmunoassay.

Rabbit antiserum prepared against N-(guanosin-8-yl)-acetylaminofluorene was utilized in radioimmunoassay to detect formation and removal of C-8 adducts from the DNA of cultured cells exposed to N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminoflorene. The assay was able to quantitate both acetylated and deacetylated C-8 adducts between 0.5 and 5 pmol while the N2 adduct, 3-(deoxyguanosin-N2-yl)acetylaminofluorene, was not detected below 160 pmol. By varying the proportions of acetylated and deacetylated C-8 adducts in the radioimmunoassay, a series of standard curves were developed from which the relative proportion of each adduct could be determined in unknown mixtures. DNA from mouse epidermal cells and human skin fibroblasts exposed to N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene in culture contained only 3 and 5% respectively, of the C-8 adduct in the acetylated form. Quantitation by radioimmunoassay of total C-8 adducts bound to DNA yielded values approximately 25% lower than total carcinogen binding determined by radiolabeling. When removal of C-8 adducts was followed over a 23-hr, carcinogen-free culture period, mouse and human cells removed 40 and 50%, respectively, of bound acetylated and deacetylated C-8 adducts. These studies demonstrate the versatility of radioimmunoassay as a molecular probe for studies of chemical carcinogens.

Dimethyl sulfoxide-induced enhancement of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene metabolism and DNA binding in differentiating mouse epidermal cell cultures.

Mouse epidermal cells in primary culture differentiate rapidly over a 2-week period leading to keratinization and sloughing of most of the plated cells. Cell replication was partially synchronized in these cultures with peaks of DNA synthesis at the 2nd and 8th day. The ability of epidermal cells to metabolize 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and the subsequent binding of activated products to epidermal DNA was a function of the culture time. Constitutive and induced levels of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase in cells cultured for 10 days were half of those in cells grown for 3 days. Likewise, 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene binding to epidermal DNA was two- to fourfold lower in 10-day than 3-day cultures. This decrease in metabolism and binding between 3-day and 10-day cultures could be eliminated by the inclusion of 1.25% dimethyl sulfoxide in the culture medium during the entire culture period.

Keratin gene expression in mouse skin tumors and in mouse skin treated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.

Alterations in the pattern of epidermal differentiation and proliferation occur during mouse skin carcinogenesis. We have used cDNA clones corresponding to the major keratin subunits synthesized in differentiating epidermal cells (Mr 67,000 and 59,000) and in proliferating epidermal cells (Mr 60,000, 55,000, and 50,000) to study changes in keratin gene transcript levels in mouse epidermis exposed to tumor promoters. The same probes were used to characterize the keratin expression patterns in benign and malignant skin tumors. A single topical treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate caused a rapid initial decrease in the epidermal transcript levels corresponding to the Mr 67,000 and 59,000 keratin subunits. By 48 h the transcript level for the Mr 67,000 keratin subunit was restored to control values, whereas the transcript levels for the Mr 59,000 subunit returned to control at a slower rate. In contrast, the transcript level for the Mr 55,000 subunit was increased substantially 12- 48 h after treatment, the Mr 50,000 subunit transcript increased to a lesser extent, and the Mr 60,000 subunit message was transiently decreased at 12 h but returned to the level of solvent-treated skin by 24 h. Single exposure to the incomplete tumor promoters 4-O-methyl-12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, the ionophore A23187, and mezerein induced changes in keratin gene transcripts similar to those of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. The antipromoter fluocinolone acetonide, administered with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, partially inhibited the decrease in the Mr 59,000 and 67,000 transcripts and completely inhibited the increase in the Mr 55,000 transcript. In skin papillomas produced by initiation and promotion, keratin gene expression was similar to normal skin, with the exception of a two-fold increase in the transcript levels for the Mr 55,000 keratin subunit. However, in carcinomas, the transcript levels for the Mr 67,000 and 59,000 subunits were only 1-3% of those observed in untreated mouse epidermis. In concert with other data, the rapid and selective loss of transcripts for differentiation-related keratins after exposure to both complete and incomplete tumor promoters is most consistent with an accelerated rate of maturation in differentiating keratinocytes, resulting in the rapid production of transcript-depleted fully mature squames. The enhanced level of Mr 55,000 transcripts suggests a concomitant increase in the number of all cells or a subset of cells in the proliferative compartment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)