High susceptibility of p53 knockout mice to esophageal and urinary bladder carcinogenesis induced by N, N-dibutylnitrosamine

In human cancer, alterations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene are the most common genetic alterations. The aim of the present study was to detect sensitivity of the p53 (+/−) mice and their littermates p53 (+/+) mice to N, N-dibutylnitrosamine (DBN) carcinogenicity. In experiment 1, 6–7-week-old p53 (+/−) and p53 (+/+) mice were treated with 0, 0.025 and 0.05% DBN, respectively, in drinking water for 20 weeks. Esophageal squamous cell and urinary bladder transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) and fibrosarcomas were found to be significantly increased in p53 (+/−) mice treated with doses of DBN compared to p53 (+/+) mice administered similar doses. In experiment 2, 6–7-week-old p53 (+/−) and p53 (+/+) mice were administered 0 or 0.05 % DBN in drinking water for 8 weeks. Immunohistochemical staining revealed a significant increase in numbers of p53 and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) positive cells in the esophageal and urinary bladder epithelia of DBN-treated p53 (+/−) mice compared to p53 (+/+) mice administered DBN. Molecular analysis revealed point mutations in the residual p53 allele in four of eight (50%) esophageal mucosa of DBN-treated p53 (+/−) mice, and in three of eight (38%) of treated p53 (+/+) mice. The results show that p53 (+/−) mice were sensitive to DBN treatment with respect to esophageal and bladder tumor development, with a mechanism that could be confined to early mutations of the residual p53 allele and increased cellular proliferation in the target organs.