The study investigated the effects of activating the protooncogene c-Myc in adult skin epidermis. Researchers used a switchable form of c-Myc protein, c-MycER, to target the suprabasal epidermis. Activation of c-MycER led to rapid proliferation and disrupted differentiation of keratinocytes, resulting in papillomatosis and angiogenesis, which are similar to hyperplastic actinic keratosis, a precancerous condition. Importantly, these premalignant changes regressed spontaneously when c-MycER was deactivated, indicating that the effects were reversible.
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July 1997 in “PubMed” In this study, researchers investigated whether overexpression of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) was sufficient for tumor promotion in mouse skin. They used transgenic mice with high ODC expression in epidermal keratinocytes and found that these mice were more sensitive to carcinogen initiation compared to controls. Notably, mice with ODC overexpression in hair follicle keratinocytes developed tumors without the need for additional tumor promoters. The study concluded that ODC overexpression was sufficient to activate target cells in hair follicles, leading to clonal expansion and epidermal tumor formation, indicating that hair follicles are key sites for chemical carcinogen targeting in the skin.
