Abstract
Transglutaminases (TG) are widely expressed in variety of tissues and cells and catalyze protein crosslinking reactions. TG-1 and -3 play an important role in the construction of the cornified cell envelop of epithelial cells, and are recently thought to be oncogenes or tumor markers.
Here we report an altered expression of TGs during the development of murine experimental dysplasia of the tongue epithelium.
Analysis of the gene expression profiles and protein expression revealed a marked upregulation of TG-3 in the experimental dysplasia of wild-type mice. Although similar degree of epithelial dysplasia was induced in p53-deficient mice, TG-3 was not upregulated by the same carcinogen treatment.
These data suggested that TG-3 may play a role in the development of murine experimental epithelial dysplasia, and that its function may associate with the p53 tumor suppressor gene.
