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Inhibition of pituitary tumors in Rb mutant chimeras through E2f4 loss reveals a key suppressive role for the pRB/E2F pathway in urothelium and ganglionic carcinogenesis

Oncogene volume 28, pages 500–508 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The retinoblastoma protein pRB suppresses tumorigenesis largely through regulation of the E2F transcription factors. E2F4, the most abundant E2F protein, is thought to act in cooperation with pRB to restrain cell proliferation. In this study, we analyse how loss of E2f4 affects the tumorigenicity of pRB-deficient tissues. As Rb−/−;E2f4−/− germline mice die in utero, we generated Rb−/−;E2f4−/− chimeric animals to allow examination of adult tumor phenotypes. We found that loss of E2f4 had a differential effect on known Rb-associated neuroendocrine tumors. It did not affect thyroid and adrenal glands tumors but partially suppressed lung neuroendocrine hyperplasia. The most striking effect was in the pituitary where E2F4 loss delayed the development, and reduced the incidence, of Rb mutant tumors. This tumor suppression increased the longevity of the Rb−/−;E2f4−/− chimeric animals allowing us to identify novel tumor types. We observed ganglionic neuroendocrine neoplasms, lesions not associated earlier with mutation of either Rb or E2f4. Moreover, a subset of the Rb−/−;E2f4−/− chimeras developed either low- or high-grade carcinomas in the urothelium transitional epithelium supporting a key role for Rb in bladder cancer.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the CCR Transgenic Facility, in particular to John M Mkandawire and Peimin Qu, for technical help, and to Alicia Caron in the Histology Facility. We are also thankful to SR Frank and P White for critical reading of the paper and helpful discussion. This project was supported by NIH grants to JAL (CA121921). JAL is a Ludwig Scholar.

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  1. Department of Biology, David H Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

    T Parisi & J A Lees

  2. Department of Pathology, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA, USA

    R T Bronson

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  1. T Parisi
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Correspondence to J A Lees.

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Parisi, T., Bronson, R. & Lees, J. Inhibition of pituitary tumors in Rb mutant chimeras through E2f4 loss reveals a key suppressive role for the pRB/E2F pathway in urothelium and ganglionic carcinogenesis. Oncogene 28, 500–508 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2008.406

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