Suppression of skin tumorigenesis in CD109-deficient mice

CD109 is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoprotein that is highly expressed in several types of human cancers, particularly squamous cell carcinomas. We previously reported that CD109-deficient mice exhibit epidermal hyperplasia and chronic skin inflammation. Although we found that CD109 regulates differentiation of keratinocytes in vivo, the function of CD109 in tumorigenesis remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the role of CD109 in skin tumorigenesis using a two-stage carcinogenesis model in CD109-deficient mice with chronic skin inflammation. We performed microarray analysis of the skin of DMBA-untreated or -treated CD109+/+ and CD109-/- mice in order to detect changes to suggest possible mechanisms for the effects