Differential tumor biology effects of double-initiation in a mouse skin chemical carcinogenesis model comparing wild type versus protein kinase Cepsilon overexpression mice.

Our previous studies showed that protein kinase Cepsilon (PKC epsilon) verexpression in mouse skin resulted in metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) elicited by single 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-initiation and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol- 13-acetate (TPA)-promotion in the absence of preceding papilloma formation as is typically observed in wild type mice. The present study demonstrates that double-DMBA initiation modulates tumor incidence, multiplicity, and latency period in both wild type and PKC epsilon overexpression transgenic (PKC epsilon-Tg) mice. After 17 weeks (wks) of tumor promotion, a reduction in papilloma multiplicity was observed in double- versus single-DMBA initiated wild type mice. Papilloma multiplicity was inversely correlated with cell death indices of interfollicular keratinocytes, indicating decreased papilloma formation was caused by increased cell death and suggesting the origin of papillomas is in interfollicular epidermis. Double-initiated PKC epsilon-Tg mice had accelerated carcinoma formation and cancer incidence in comparison to single-initiated PKC epsilon-Tg mice. Morphologic analysis of mouse skin following double initiation and tumor promotion showed a similar if not identical series of events to those previously observed following single initiation and tumor promotion: putative preneoplastic cells were observed arising from hyperplastic hair follicles (HF's) with subsequent cancer cell infiltration into the dermis. Single-initiated PKC epsilon-Tg mice exhibited increased mitosis in epidermal cells of HFs during tumor promotion.