Analysis of the equine tumor suppressor gene p53 in the normal horse and in eight cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas

Wild type equine p53 was amplified between exons 2 and 9 by the polymerase chain reaction using primers designed from conserved regions in other species. An 828 base pair region, corresponding to codons 25-313 of human p53, was sequenced in both directions. Human and equine amino acid sequences were 87% homologous in this region and 96% homologous in conserved domains II-V. Of eight equine cutaneous or mucocutaneous squamous cell carcinomas directly sequenced from exons 5-8, two had p53 point mutations resulting in single amino acid substitutions.