Carbonic anhydrase II gene upregulation and tumorigenesis in Lewis lung carcinoma‐bearing mice

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background and aims: The carbonic anhydrases (CA), a family of metalloenzymes, play an important role in catalyzing the equilibration of carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbonic acid (H2CO3). CAs are involved in many physiological process connected with respiration and transport of CO2/bicarbonate (HCO3‐). CA inhibitors have been investigated in a variety of tumors. The role of CAs in tumorigenesis is controversial, especially in relation to the expression of CA isoenzymes between normal and malignant cells. This study was performed to elucidate the correlation of CA in the regulation of the transplant acceptance in the mice model. Methods: A rejection rate of 16.7% for transplantation, 1 × 106 cells by subcutaneous injection in the axillary region, of wild‐type Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells was observed in syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. We hypothesize that the rejection is caused by the regulation of multiple genes. Differential display was performed to identify the response of genes to the rejection. Results: Initial characterization of differentially amplified products demonstrated that carbonic anhydrase II (CAII) mRNA was differently regulated in the spleens of mice bearing LLC and the spleens of non‐LLC bearing mice. RT‐PCR analysis of the mouse spleens suggested that expression of CAII was significantly increased in mice bearing LLC, when compared to non‐LLC bearing mice. Conclusions: The results indicated that CAII expression may be involved in the transplant acceptance and growth of LLC cells in the mouse model. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the different of mRNA expression levels of CAII in LLC‐transplanted mice.