Genetic control of polyamine-dependent susceptibility to skin tumorigenesis

Overexpression of an ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) transgene greatly increases the susceptibility of mouse skin to carcinogen-induced tumor development. Like many phenotypes in transgenic models, this enhanced susceptibility phenotype is strongly influenced by genetic background. We have mapped tumor-modifier genes in intraspecific crosses between transgenic K6/ODC mice on a susceptible strain background (C57Bl/6J), a moderately resistant background (FVB), or a highly resistant background (C3H/HeJ). We identified several quantitative trait loci that influenced either tumor multiplicity or predisposition to the development of squamous cell carcinoma, but not both phenotypes. Because we did not use a tumor-promotion protocol to induce tumors, most of the quantitative trait loci mapped in this study are distinct from skin tumor-susceptibility loci identified previously. The use of a combined transgenic-standard strain approach to genetic analysis has resulted in detection of previously unknown genetic loci affecting skin tumor susceptibility.