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Hidehiro Nakajima1,2, Hisako O Nakajima1,2, Mark H Soonpaa1,2, Shaoliang Jing1,2 & Loren J Field1,2
1Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research Indiana University School of Medicine, Riley Hospital, 702 Barnhill Drive, Room 2600, Indianapolis, Indiana, IN 46202-5225, USA
2Krannert Institute of Cardiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Riley Hospital, 702 Barnhill Drive, Room 2600, Indianapolis, Indiana, IN 46202-5225, USA
Correspondence to: Loren J Field, Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, 702 Barnhill Drive, Room 2600, Indianapolis, Indiana, IN 46202-5225, USA
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Thymoma is the most common tumor of the anterior-superior mediastinum. We have identified a line of transgenic mice which spontaneously and heritably develop thymomas at a very high penetrance. The available data suggest that thymoma formation in these mice results as a consequence of transgene insertional mutagenesis. Immune histologic analyses indicate that the thymomas are of epithelial cell origin. Survival studies indicate that tumor progression is more aggressive in females as compared to males (73.9 vs 41.7% mortality at 20 weeks of age, respectively). Fluorescent in situ hybridizations have localized the transgene integration site to the F2-G region of mouse chromosome 2. Translocation encompassing the syntenic region in humans has been implicated in lympho-epithelial thymoma. These animals may constitute a useful resource for the identification of gene(s) which participate in thymoma progression, as well as a model system for screening anti-thymoma therapeutic agents. Oncogene (2000) 19, 32 – 38.
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