Overexpression of TGFα in transgenic mice: Induction of epithelial hyperplasia, pancreatic metaplasia, and carcinoma of the breast

We have used transgenic mice that carry an activated c-neu oncogene driven by a mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) promoter to assess the stepwise progression of carcinogenesis in mammary epithelium. Unlike the stochastic occurrence of solitary mammary tumors in transgenic mice bearing the MMTV/c-myc or the MMTV/v-Ha-ras oncogenes, transgenic mice uniformly expressing the MMTV/c-neu gene develop mammary adenocarcinomas that involve the entire epithelium in each gland. Because these tumors arise synchronously and are polyclonal in origin, expression of the activated c-neu oncogene appears to be sufficient to induce malignant transformation in this tissue in a single step. In contrast, expression of the c-neu transgene in the parotid gland or epididymis leads to benign, bilateral epithelial hypertrophy and hyperplasia which does not progress to full malignant transformation during the observation period. These results indicate that the combination of activated oncogene and tissue context are major determinants of malignant progression and that expression of the activated form of c-neu in the mammary epithelium has particularly deleterious consequences.

Transcriptional activation of the int-1 gene by proviral insertion mutations is thought to be a key step in mammary tumor induction by the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV). To test this hypothesis, we have constructed an int-1 allele resembling those found in virus-induced tumors, with an MMTV LTR placed 5' to the int-1 gene in the opposite transcriptional orientation. Transgenic mice harboring this allele express int-1 RNA at high levels in mammary and salivary glands of male and female mice and in male reproductive organs. The mammary glands of males and virgin females are grossly hyperplastic compared with those of nontrasgenic littermates. Mammary and (less frequently) salivary adenocarcinomas occur in these animals at rates indicating that transcriptional activation of int-1 and associated hyperplasia are initiating events in multistep carcinogenesis.