Carcinogenesis Advance Access first published online on April 13, 2007
This version published online on April 17, 2007
Carcinogenesis, doi:10.1093/carcin/bgm079
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Loss of p27Kip1 enhances tumor progression in chronic hepatocyte injury-induced liver tumorigenesis with widely ranging effects on Cdk2 or Cdc2 activation
1 Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Marion Bessin Liver Research Center and Albert Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
2 Department of Medicine, Marion Bessin Liver Research Center and Albert Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
3 Department of Pathology, Marion Bessin Liver Research Center and Albert Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
Corresponding author: Dr. Liang Zhu, Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Room U-521, Bronx, NY 10461, USA, Phone: 718-430-3320, Fax: 718-430-8975, Email: lizhu{at}aecom.yu.edu
Effects of p27Kip1 inactivation on tumorigenesis vary from promotion to prevention dependent on the mouse models used. When p27 inactivation has a positive effect on tumorigenesis, deregulated activation of Cdks is generally believed to be the underlying mechanism since the function of p27 as an inhibitor of Cdks is firmly established. Here, we determined the effects of p27 inactivation on disease progression and Cdk activation in mouse liver tumorigenesis that originates from hepatocyte regenerative proliferation in response to chronic liver injury, an established etiology in most human liver cancer. Our results show that inactivation of p27 did not affect early stage hepatocyte regenerative proliferation but promoted tumor cell proliferation and progression in the late stage of the disease. Interestingly, Cdc2 overexpression was observed in all and cyclin E1 was overexpressed in half of the late stage tumors regardless of p27 status; and p27 inactivation led to significant activation of Cdk2 or Cdc2 only in half of the p27-deficient tumors. These results reveal a tumor suppressor role of p27 in chronic hepatocyte injury-induced liver tumorigenesis and, at the same time, the need to further study the mechanisms for tumor promotion by p27 inactivation.
Key Words: p27Kip1 HBV liver tumor Cdk2 Cdc2 cyclin E
The figures have been added in this version.
Received November 28, 2006; revised March 30, 2007; accepted April 2, 2007.