IFN-gamma prevents chemically induced hepatocellular carcinoma and preneoplastic lesions in liver independent of functional T-cells

Transgenic mice, which overexpress IFN-gamma in the liver, suffer from chronic hepatitis. Chronic hepatitis is believed to promote hepatocarcinogenesis. To test whether IFN-gamma transgenic mice are more suscepitible for the development of liver cancer, we chemically induced hepatocarcinogenesis in IFN-gamma transgenic or non-transgenic mice by treatment with diethylnitrosamine (DEN), promoted by Phenobarbital (PB) for 24 weeks. To further clarify the role of T-cells, we reconstituted myeloablatively irradiated IFN-transgenic and non-transgenic mice with bone marrow from RAG(-/-) mice or from wildtype mice as co…