Haploinsufficiency of the cdc2l gene contributes to skin cancer development in mice

The Cdc2L gene encodes for the cyclin-dependent kinase 11 (CDK11) protein. Loss of one allele of Cdc2L and reduced CDK11 expression has been observed in several cancers, implicating its association with carcinogenesis. To directly investigate the role of CDK11 in carcinogenesis, we first generated cdc2l haploinsufficient mice by gene trap technology and then studied the susceptibility of these gene-trapped (cdc2l^GT) mice to chemical-mediated skin carcinogenesis in the 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)/ 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced two-stage skin carcinogenesis model. Wild-type and cdc2l^GT mice were subjected to a single topical application of initiation by DMBA and promotion twice a week for 19 weeks with TPA. At 19 weeks, 70% of the cdc2l^GT mice and 60% of the cdc2l^+/+ mice developed benign papillomas. However, there was an overall 3-fold increase in the average number of tumors per mouse observed in cdc2l^GT mice as compared with cdc2l^+/+ mice. There was also an increased frequency of larger papillomas in cdc2l^GT mice. By using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay, we found A to T transversion mutations at the 61st codon of H-ras gene in the papilloma tissue of both cdc2l^GT mice and cdc2l^+/+ mice. Ki-67 staining revealed increased proliferation in the papillomas of cdc2l^GT (77.75%) as compared with cdc2l^+/+ (30.84%) tumors. These studies are the first to show that loss of one allele of cdc2l gene, encoding CDK11, facilitates DMBA/TPA-induced skin carcinogenesis in vivo.