Evaluation of the transgenic p53+/− mouse for detecting genotoxic liver carcinogens in a short-term bioassay

The transgenic p53-deficient heterozygous (p53+/−) mouse is prone to both spontaneous and induced tumors and has been proposed for use in a sensitive, short-term (6 months) assay for identifying genotoxic, multispecies carcinogens. It is not clear, however, if a short-term assay with p53+/− mice detects agents that target certain organs, in particular, the liver. In this study, we treated neonatal male p53+/− and p53+/+ mice with the genotoxic carcinogens dimethylnitrosamine (DMN), 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo [4,5–b]pyridine (PhIP), and 6-nitrochrysene (6-NC). In keeping with the methodology of the proposed short-term assay, the p53+/− mice were evaluated for tumors 7 months after treatment. Wild-type neonatal mice treated with genotoxic carcinogens are known to develop tumors within 1 year; hence, the p53+/+ animals used as controls were subjected to pathological examination at 1 year of age. Our results showed that PhIP was not tumorigenic in either group of mice. Liver tumor incidence increased significantly in the p53+/+ mice treated with DMN and 6-NC, indicating that the conditions of the bioassay were conducive to the promotion of liver tumorigenesis. On the other hand, these two chemicals failed to induce a significant increase in liver tumors in the p53+/− mice by seven months. This result suggests that a deficiency in the amount of p53 protein does not lead to accelerated liver tumorigenesis in mice, and contrasts with previous reports that show a decreased latency of tumors in non-liver targets.