Mutation accumulation in the intestine and colon of mice deficient in two intracellular glutathione peroxidases.

Mice deficient in two glutathione peroxidases (GPX), Gpx1 and Gpx2, [Gpx1/2-double knockout (DKO) mice] are prone to ileocolitis on a mixed C57BL/6 and 129S1/SvJ (B6.129) genetic background. We reported previously that approximately 25% of B6.129 Gpx1/2-DKO mice develop ileocolonic tumors by 6 to 9 months of age, when their non-DKO littermates [having at least one wild-type (WT) Gpx1 or Gpx2 allele] rarely have inflammation and none have tumors. Because genetic background affects tumor susceptibility, we have generated a B6 Gpx1/2-DKO colony and discovered that these mice have fewer inflammatory cells, milder ileocolitis, and low mortality, and only 2.5% of B6 mice developed tumors. The mutant frequency of a cII reporter gene was about 2- to 3-fold higher in 28-day-old Gpx1/2-DKO and 4-fold higher in 8-month-old Gpx1/2-DKO ileal mucosa than in controls in both genetic backgrounds. In contrast, mutant frequencies in the unaffected B6 liver were not significantly different between WT and Gpx1/2-DKO mice. The mutant frequency of 8-month-old B6.129 Gpx1/2-DKO ileum was 38.94 +/- 15.5(-5), which was not significantly higher than the age-matched B6 ileum, 25.54 +/- 10.33(-5). The mutation spectra analysis has shown that B6 Gpx1/2-DKO ileum had a 3-fold increase in small nucleotide deletions at mononucleotide repeats over control B6, which are a signature mutation associated with oxidative stress. Unexpectedly, B6 Gpx1/2-DKO mice had fewer C to T transitions at CpG dinucleotides than the WT B6 (18.0% versus 40.1%; P < 0.001). Our results suggest that inflammation drives gene mutations, which leads to neoplastic transformation of intestinal epithelium in the B6.129 Gpx1/2-DKO mice but rarely in the B6 Gpx1/2-DKO mice.