Mice that are homozygous for the targeted mutation are viable, fertile, normal in size and do not display any gross physical or behavioral abnormalities. S123A Cdc25a protein is altered at a key phosphorylation site. When measured in dermal fibroblasts (DF), the mutant protein has a prolonged half-life as compared to wild-type (60 vs. 90 minutes) suggesting that the mutation stabilizes the protein. DF treated with nocodazole contain cells with an increase in centrosome number. When nocodazole is combined with radiation, aneuploid cells with nearly 4N DNA content are observed. In addition, eighteen months after treatment with ionizing radiation, mice develop tumors at much higher percentage than wild-type (80% vs. 30%).
This mutant mouse strain may be useful in studies of cell cycle regulation, centrosome amplification in dermal fibroblasts and radiation-induced tumorigenesis.
In an attempt to offer alleles on well-characterized or multiple genetic backgrounds, alleles are frequently moved to a genetic background different from that on which an allele was first characterized. It should be noted that the phenotype could vary from that originally described. We will modify the strain description if necessary as published results become available.
