Salivary gland tumors in transgenic mice with targeted PLAG1 proto-oncogene overexpression.

Pleomorphic adenoma gene 1 (PLAG1) proto-oncogene overexpression is implicated in various human neoplasias, including salivary gland pleomorphic adenomas. To further assess the oncogenic capacity of PLAG1, two independent PLAG1 transgenic mouse strains were established, PTMS1 and PTMS2, in which activation of PLAG1 overexpression is Cre mediated. Crossbreeding of PTMS1 or PTMS2 mice with MMTV-Cre transgenic mice was done to target PLAG1 overexpression to salivary and mammary glands, in the P1-Mcre/P2-Mcre offspring.

The tumorigenic diversity of the three PLAG family members is associated with different DNA binding capacities.

Pleomorphic adenoma gene (PLAG) 1, the main translocation target in pleomorphic adenomas of the salivary glands, is a member of a new subfamily of zinc finger proteins comprising the tumor suppressor candidate PLAG-like1 (also called ZAC1 or lost on transformation 1) and PLAGL2. In this report, we show that NIH3T3 cells overexpressing PLAG1 or PLAGL2 display the typical markers of neoplastic transformation: (a) the cells lose cell-cell contact inhibition; (b) show anchorage-independent growth; and (c) are able to induce tumors in nude mice. In contrast, PLAGL1 has been shown to prevent the proliferation of tumor cells by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.