Tissue-specific and age-dependent effects of global Mdm2 loss

J Pathol. 2014 Aug;233(4):380-91. doi: 10.1002/path.4368. Epub 2014 Jun 9.

Abstract

Mdm2, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, negatively regulates the tumour suppressor p53. In this study we utilized a conditional Mdm2 allele, Mdm2(FM) , and a CAG-CreER tamoxifen-inducible recombination system to examine the effects of global Mdm2 loss in adult mice. Two different tamoxifen injection regimens caused 100% lethality of Mdm2(FM) (/-) ;CAG-CreER mice; both radio-sensitive and radio-insensitive tissues were impaired. Strikingly, a large number of radio-insensitive tissues, including the kidney, liver, heart, retina and hippocampus, exhibited various pathological defects. Similar tamoxifen injections in older (16-18 month-old) Mdm2(FM) (/-) ;CAG-CreER mice yielded abnormalities only in the kidney. In addition, transcriptional activation of Cdkn1a (p21), Bbc3 (Puma) and multiple senescence markers in young (2-4 month-old) mice following loss of Mdm2 was dampened in older mice. All phenotypes were p53-dependent, as Mdm2(FM) (/-) ;Trp53(-/-) ;CAG-CreER mice subjected to the same tamoxifen regimens were normal. Our findings implicate numerous possible toxicities in many normal tissues upon use of cancer therapies that aim to inhibit Mdm2 in tumours with wild-type p53.

Keywords: Mdm2; Tp53; cancer therapy; radio-insensitive tissues.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aging / drug effects
  • Aging / pathology*
  • Alleles
  • Animals
  • Gene Deletion
  • Gene Expression Regulation / drug effects
  • Hippocampus / drug effects
  • Hippocampus / pathology
  • Injections
  • Kidney / drug effects
  • Kidney / pathology*
  • Liver / drug effects
  • Liver / pathology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Models, Animal
  • Myocardium / pathology*
  • Phenotype
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2 / deficiency*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2 / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2 / physiology*
  • Retina / drug effects
  • Retina / pathology
  • Tamoxifen / administration & dosage
  • Tamoxifen / pharmacology
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / physiology*

Substances

  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
  • Tamoxifen
  • Mdm2 protein, mouse
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2