Epidermal Tissue Adapts to Restrain Progenitors Carrying Clonal p53 Mutations

Abstract

Aging human tissues, such as sun-exposed epidermis, accumulate a high burden of progenitor cells that carry oncogenic mutations. However, most progenitors carrying such mutations colonize and persist in normal tissue without forming tumors. Here, we investigated tissue-level constraints on clonal progenitor behavior by inducing a single-allele p53 mutation (Trp53^R245W; p53^∗/wt), prevalent in normal human epidermis and squamous cell carcinoma, in transgenic mouse epidermis. p53^∗/wt progenitors initially outcompeted wild-type cells due to enhanced proliferation, but subsequently reverted toward normal dynamics and homeostasis. Physiological doses of UV light accelerated short-term expansion of p53^∗/wt clones, but their frequency decreased with protracted irradiation, possibly due to displacement by UV-induced mutant clones with higher competitive fitness. These results suggest multiple mechanisms restrain the proliferation of p53^∗/wt progenitors, thereby maintaining epidermal integrity.

Keywords: Cdh1; Trp53; carcinogenesis; cell adhesion; cell competition; desmosome; differentiation; stem cell; transgenic mice; ultraviolet light.