Description
To investigate the impact of ablating Bcl9/Bcl9l on tumorigenesis, 6-8- week-old mice were exposed first to a single dose dimethylhydrazine (DMH, 44 mg/kg body weight), which is metabolized in the liver to carcinogenic azoxymethane (AOM), followed by 7 days oral administration of 2 % dextrane sulfate sodium (DSS) in the drinking water. This regimen results in the emergence of dysplastic adenomas, which progress to differentiated adenocarcinomas that are morphologically similar to human colorectal adenocarcinomas and typically harbor -catenin stabilizing mutations of GSK3 phosphorylation sites. Accordingly, these tumors present hallmarks of active Wnt signaling such as accumulation of nuclear -catenin and expression of Wnt target genes.