Development of mammary cancer in γ-irradiated F(1) hybrids of susceptible Sprague-Dawley and resistant Copenhagen rats, with copy-number losses that pinpoint potential tumor suppressors

Copenhagen rats are highly resistant to mammary carcinogenesis, even after treatment with chemical carcinogens and hormones; most studies indicate that this is a dominant genetic trait. To test whether this trait is also dominant after radiation exposure, we characterized the susceptibility of irradiated Copenhagen rats to mammary carcinogenesis, as well as its inheritance, and identified tumor-suppressor genes that, when inactivated or mutated, may contribute to carcinogenesis. To this end, mammary cancer–susceptible Sprague-Dawley rats, resistant Copenhagen rats, and their F(1) hybrids were irradiated with 4 Gy of γ-rays, and tumor development was monitored. Copy-number variations and allelic imbalances of genomic DNA were studied using microarrays and PCR analysis of polymorphic markers. Gene expression was assessed by quantitative PCR in normal tissues and induced mammary cancers of F(1) rats. Irradiated Copenhagen rats exhibited a very low incidence of mammary cancer. Unexpectedly, this resistance trait did not show dominant inheritance in F(1) rats; rather, they exhibited intermediate susceptibility levels (i.e., between those of their parent strains). The susceptibility of irradiated F(1) rats to the development of benign mammary tumors (i.e., fibroadenoma and adenoma) was also intermediate. Copy-number losses were frequently observed in chromosome regions 1q52–54 (24%), 2q12–15 (33%), and 3q31–42 (24%), as were focal (38%) and whole (29%) losses of chromosome 5. Some of these chromosomal regions exhibited allelic imbalances. Many cancer-related genes within these regions were downregulated in mammary tumors as compared with normal mammary tissue. Some of the chromosomal losses identified have not been reported previously in chemically induced models, implying a novel mechanism inherent to the irradiated model. Based on these findings, Sprague-Dawley × Copenhagen F(1) rats offer a useful model for exploring genes responsible for radiation-induced mammary cancer, which apparently are mainly located in specific regions of chromosomes 1, 2, 3 and 5.