Abstract. the p53 tumor suppressor gene plays an essential role in tumorigenesis, and the chromosomal region maintenance 1 (crM1) has been suggested to export p53 protein from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. the objectives of the present study were to evaluate p53 expression and subcellular localization as well as crM1 expression using immunohistochemistry in our established bitransgenic mouse lung tumor model. In this model, expression of the mutant human Ki-ras g12c allele was regulated in a doxycycline (DOX)-inducible, lung-specific manner. Following treatment with curcumin, we found that although overall p53 expression levels were not significantly changed among the three groups, lung lesions in mice treated with DoX alone had the highest proportion of n>c (nucleus predominant) p53 staining (46±7%), followed by lung lesions in mice co-treated with DoX and curcumin (31±12%) and controls (17±4%). crM1 expression was dramatically inhibited in lung lesions in mice treated with DoX (0±0) as compared to controls (90±17, p=0.001), and could be partially reversed after curcumin treatment (47±21, p= 0.028, DoX vs. DoX+curcumin). collectively, the results from this study demonstrated that p53 accumulated in the nucleus in lung lesions in mice expressing the mutant Ki-ras g12c transgene as a result of down-regulation of CRM1. Furthermore, these alterations could be partially reversed by curcumin treatment. p53 subcellular localization resulting from crM1 alterations may play an important role in lung tumorigenesis.
Introductionlung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United states and worldwide (1). It still remains the leading cause of cancer death with an overall 5-year survival rate for all stages combined of only 15% (2). Ki-ras gene mutations play an important role in the pathogenesis of lung tumors as well as in prognosis (3,4). to mimic the effects of oncogenic Ki-ras in human lung tumors with chemical carcinogen exposure, a bitransgenic mouse lung tumor model that expresses the mutant human Ki-ras g12c allele in a doxycycline (DoX)-inducible, lung-specific manner was previously generated (5). Benign lung lesions were observed with continuous Ki-ras g12c expression in bitransgenic mice after DoX exposure (5). Unexpectedly, curcumin, a chemopreventive agent, was found to cause an increase in lung tumor promotion of DoX-induced lung lesions in this model, possibly by enhancing reactive oxygen species formation (6).It is well known that p53 is a critical tumor suppressor gene involved in the development of lung cancer (7). p53 inactivation through mutations occurs frequently in lung cancer (40-70%) (8,9). some tumors contain wild-type p53, which is functionally inactivated through other mechanisms, such as a change in subcellular localization (10,11). our previous in vitro cell culture study has shown that, in response to the mutagenic lung specific carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (nnK), p53 is activated and retained in the nucleus, indicating that p53 exhibits a functional respo...