Glucocorticoids Alter Transcription from the Mouse Ha-ras Promoter Region in a Transient Gene Expression Assay

Activation and expression of the mouse c-Ha-ras oncogene has been shown to play a role in epidermal papilloma development during two-stage skin carcinogenesis in SENCAR mice. Since glucocorticoids inhibit mouse skin two-stage carcinogenesis when applied topically to initiated mouse skin prior to tumor development, the authors were interested in investigating the effect of glucocorticoids on expression of the mouse c-Ha-ras oncogene. In this report, the authors present observations on the effect of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone on gene expression driven by the mouse c-Ha-ras promoter region in a transient gene expression assay.