A role for c-Abl in cell senescence and spontaneous immortalization

c-Abl is a proto-oncogene that is essential for mouse development and tissue homeostasis. Misregulation of c-Abl, as seen in the constitutively active BCR-ABL, is the leading cause of human chronic myeloid leukemia. However, how the Abl proteins execute their functions still remains largely unknown. Here, we report an important role for c-Abl in replicative senescence and immortalization by regulating the expression of two tumor suppressors that induce cellular senescence, p53 and p16(INK4a). Using primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), we show that c-Abl (-/-) cells were more resistant to immortalization than wildtype cells using a standard 3T3 or 3T9 protocol. We could only immortalize three out of nine c-Abl (-/-) MEF cultures even when we increased the number of starting cells. This resistance was attributed to premature senescence and reduced survival in senescent c-Abl (-/-) cells due to an increase in p16(INK4a) and p53 expression. Deleting p53 allows c-Abl (-/-) p53 (-/-) MEFs to bypass senescence to be spontaneously immortalized. Cell immortalization, but not senescence, was generally accompanied by mutations in p53 in both wildtype and c-Abl (-/-) MEFs, although the spectrum is different from that of human tumors. The role for c-Abl in regulating cell senescence and immortalization might explain some of the developmental defects in c-Abl (-/-) mice and how BCR-ABL transforms cells.