The human papillomavirus type 8 E2 protein induces skin tumors in transgenic mice

Transgenic mice expressing early genes of the cutaneous human papillomavirus 8 (HPV8) spontaneously develop skin papillomas, epidermal dysplasia, and squamous cell carcinoma (6%). As the HPV8 protein E2 revealed transforming capacity in vitro, we generated three epidermal specific HPV8-E2-transgenic FVB/N mouse lines to dissect its role in tumor development. The rate of tumor formation in the three lines correlated with the different E2-mRNA levels. More than 60% of heterozygous line 2 mice, but none of the HPV8-negative littermates, spontaneously developed ulcerous lesions of the skin over an observation period of up to 144 weeks, beginning on average 74 +/- 22 weeks after birth. Most lesions presented infundibular hyperplasia and acanthosis combined with low-grade dysplasia. Severe dysplasia of the epidermis occurred in 6%. Two carcinomas revealed a sharply demarcated spindle-cell component. Only 3 weeks after a single UV irradiation, 87% of heterozygous line 2 and 36% of line 35 mice developed skin tumors. A rapidly growing invasive tumor composed of spindle cells arose 10 weeks after irradiation of a line-35 animal. The histology of skin cancers in HPV8-E2 mice is reminiscent of a subset of highly aggressive squamous cell carcinoma in immunosuppressed transplant recipients with a massive spindle-cell component.