A Classic Method For Modeling Skin Cancer Is Featured In Cold Spring Harbor Protocols

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Dermatology
Article Date: 06 Sep 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Skin cancer is the most prevalent form of human cancer in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But in order to more fully understand skin cancer in humans, scientists must use model organisms, such as mice, to study the disease in the laboratory.

This month's release of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols includes free access to a protocol for generating mice with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), one of the most common types of skin cancer. The procedure involves injecting mice with a drug called DMBA, which mutates (and thereby activates) a tumor-promoting gene. A second drug, called TPA, then encourages the proliferation of cells that carry the mutated gene. The resulting mass of cells is a tumor.

The protocol, freely available here, describes how to monitor and evaluate the mice for clinical signs of tumorigenesis. It also includes methods for preparing the tumor tissues for histological analysis, which allows scientists to study characteristics of the tumors at a microscopic level.

The protocol is from Dr. Michael Girardi's group at the Yale University School of Medicine (http://info.med.yale.edu/dermatology/dept/girardi.html). Girardi's team has used the procedure to examine the role of the immune system in susceptibility to SCC. It can also be used to test other physiological and environmental factors that may influence the growth and progression of skin cancer in mice, and will ultimately help scientists to better understand and control the disease in humans.

Also freely available from Cold Spring Harbor Protocols this month is an article that describes an efficient method for testing individuals for specific DNA variations called SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) (http://www.cshprotocols.org/cgi/content/full/2007/18/pdb.prot4843). The method, called the oligonucleotide ligation assay (OLA), will be useful for identifying individuals with disease-related mutations and other genetic variants. It was contributed by Dr. Stuart Macdonald from the University of Kansas (http://web.ku.edu/sjmac/).

About Cold Spring Harbor Protocols:

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols is an online resource of methods used in a wide range of biology laboratories. It is structured to be highly interactive, with each protocol cross-linked to related methods, descriptive information panels, and illustrative material to maximize the total information available to investigators. Each protocol is clearly presented and designed for easy use at the bench-complete with reagents, equipment, and recipe lists. Life science researchers can access the entire collection via institutional site licenses, and can add their suggestions and comments to further refine the techniques.

http://www.cshprotocols.org

About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press:

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press is an internationally renowned publisher of books, journals, and electronic media, located on Long Island, New York. Since 1933, it has furthered the advance and spread of scientific knowledge in all areas of genetics and molecular biology, including cancer biology, plant science, bioinformatics, and neurobiology. It is a division of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, an innovator in life science research and the education of scientists, students, and the public. For more information, visit http://www.cshlpress.com.

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