IQGAP2 knockout model of hepatocellular carcinoma

Whole body knockout mice lacking IQ-motif containing GTPase-activating protein 2 (IQGAP2) develop spontaneous hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at the age of 12 months and older (Schmidt et al., 2008). Hepatic transcript expression profiles were obtained for IQGAP2 knockout and wild-type control mice of two age groups, 6- and 24-month-old. Liver samples from 24-month-old IQGAP2 knockout mice were HCC tumors, livers from all other groups were tumor-free. Results provide insights into the potential role of IQGAP2 as a liver-specific tumor suppressor. Transcript profiles of four groups of mouse livers (N = 3 in each group) were compared using Affymetrix GeneChip® Mouse Genome 430 2.0 Array. The groups included livers from 6- and 24-month-old wild-type (WT) mice and 6- and 24-month-old (KO) Iqgap2-/- mice.