CHARACTERIZATION OF NEUROENDOCRINE TUMORS IN TRANSGENIC MICE

Transgenic mice carrying hybrid constructs made by hormone gene promot ers attached to viral oncogene sequences proved extremely valuable to investigate the regulatory potency of hormone gene 5' regions. These t ransgenic mice heritably develop tumors from hormone-producing cells a nd offer excellent opportunities for studying oncogenesis in the neuro endocrine system. Here the histology of neuroendocrine tumors of three transgenic mice strains (AVP/ SV40; RIP1Tag2/RIP2PyST1; GLU2/Tag) is reviewed, preneoplastic lesions are described and tumor development mo rphology is reconstructed. Transgenic mice experiments provide unique tools for expanding our knowledge of neuroendocrine tumor histogenesis .