Altered levels of endogenous retrovirus-like sequence (VL30) RNA during mouse epidermal cell carcinogenesis

Gene expression during mouse keratinocyte carcinogenesis was examined in a clonal cell model. Tumor cells from three separate initiated cell lineages were compared with their nontumorigenic precursors and with the progenitor cell strain prior to treatment with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA). The steady-state levels of VL30 RNA in normal and papilloma cells were regulated by extracellular Ca2+ (which controls proliferation and differentiation in normal epidermal keratinocytes) and culture density. In contrast, steady-state levels of VL30 RNA were not regulated by these factors in the squamous cell carcinoma or the anaplastic carcinoma cells. VL30 expression was Ca2+ dependent in the initiated cell precursors within each tumor cell lineage, suggesting that the loss of response to extracellular Ca2+ was associated with the malignant conversion stage of carcinogenesis. No differences between normal and tumor cells were found in the cellular RNA levels of five additional proto-oncogenes. The mouse epidermal cell model should provide a means for direct assessment of a potential functional role of VL30 sequences in cancer development.