Gene expression profile of cervical and skin tissues from human papillomavirus type 16 E6 transgenic mice.

Background: Although K14E6 transgenic mice develop spontaneous tumors of the skin epithelium, no spontaneous reproductive tract malignancies arise, unless the transgenic mice were treated chronically with 17beta-estradiol. These findings suggest that E6 performs critical functions in normal adult cervix and skin, highlighting the need to define E6-controlled transcriptional programs in these tissues.

Methods: We evaluated the expression profile of 14,000 genes in skin or cervix from young K14E6 transgenic mice compared with nontransgenic.