Human chromosome II inhibits tumorigenicity of a murine squamous cell carcinoma cell line

Abstract

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of mouse chromosome 7 has been consistently demonstrated in chemically induced murine squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). The region of this chromosome presenting LOH in the mouse tumors is syntenic to human chromosome segments 11p15 and 11q. To determine whether the introduction of human chromosome (Hchr) 11 can suppress the growth of murine SCC, we injected four clones of a chemically induced murine SCC cell line bearing an Hchr 11 into athymic BALB/c nude mice. All microcell hybrid clones with Hchr 11 (CH72/Hchr 11) had latency periods twice as long as those of the parental CH72 cells and control hybrids containing a Hchr 12. Tumor-derived cells from CH72/Hchr 11 hybrids had lost centromeric and telomeric sequences from Hchr 11. All repressed cell lines grew significantly more slowly in vitro than did the controls. These results suggest that Hchr 11 contains a tumor-suppressor gene capable of inhibiting tumorigenicity in chemically induced SCC, confirming common pathways in the development of human neoplasias and the murine model.