TY - JOUR AB - Rearrangement and amplification of the D‑type cyclin genes have been reported in human cancer. Previous studies have demonstrated that Ras‑mediated skin tumorigene­sis depends on pathways that act through cyclin D1 and D2; however, the role of cyclin D3 remains unknown. The present study demonstrates that cyclin D3 ablation does not affect keratinocyte proliferation, but instead increases apoptosis levels in the bulge region of the hair follicle. Consequently, cyclin D3 ablation reduces skin papilloma development in a Ras‑dependent carcinogenesis model. Previous results revealed that cyclin D3 preferentially binds to cyclin‑dependent kinase 6 (CDK6) in mouse keratinocytes and transgenic expression of CDK6 (K5CDK6 mice) inhibits skin tumor development. Thus, we hypothesized that the inhibitory effect of CDK6 is dependent on cyclin D3 expression. To test this hypothesis, a mouse model that overexpresses CDK6 and does not express cyclin D3 (K5CDK6/cyclin D3‑/‑ compound mouse) was developed. Biochemical analysis of the epidermis of K5CDK6/cyclin D3‑/‑ mice revealed that cyclin D3 ablation resulted in increased expression of cyclin D1 protein, with a consequent elevation in the level of CDK6/cyclin D1 and CDK4/cyclin D1 complexes. These findings were concurrent with the increase skin papilloma malignant progression observed in K5CDK6/cyclin D3‑/‑ mice. In summary the absence of cyclin D3 led to fewer number of papillomas in cyclin D3‑ablated mice than in the wild‑type owing to increased apoptosis, suggesting that alterations in cell survival are a crucial mechanism for crippling cellular defense against neoplasia. The results of the current study also suggest that although cyclin D3 expression does not alter the tumor suppressive role of CDK6 in skin carcinogenesis, the compensatory increase in cyclin D1 can shift the balance towards malignant progression. AD - Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, The Center for Human Health and The Environment and The Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburg, PA 15232, USA Department of Biochemistry, University of Lausanne, CH‑1015 Lausanne, Switzerland The Laboratory of Veterinary Clinical Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Gwanak, Seoul 151‑742, Republic of Korea AU - Lee,Sung ,Hyun AU - Wang,Xian AU - Kim,Sun ,Hye AU - Kim,Yongbaek AU - Rodriguez‑Puebla,Marcelo ,L. DA - 2017/09/01 DO - 10.3892/ol.2017.6551 EP - 2734 IS - 3 JO - Oncol Lett KW - skin epidermis papillomas cyclin D3 cyclin‑dependent kinase 6 cell cycle PY - 2017 SN - 1792-1074 1792-1082 SP - 2723 ST - Cyclin D3 deficiency inhibits skin tumor development, but does not affect normal keratinocyte proliferation T2 - Oncology Letters TI - Cyclin D3 deficiency inhibits skin tumor development, but does not affect normal keratinocyte proliferation UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.6551 VL - 14 ER -