Cholera toxin, a potent inducer of epidermal hyperplasia but with no tumor promoting activity in mouse skin carcinogenesis.

Intracutaneous injection of cholera toxin into mice induced epidermal hyperplasia to a greater extent than 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. It also induced adenylate cyclase and though weakly, ornithine decarboxylase of the epidermis. Cholera toxin, however, showed no tumor promoting activity in mouse skin carcinogenesis. In the single stage promotion, cholera toxin (50 ng) was injected once a week for 10 weeks into the skin of SENCAR mice initiated with 25 micrograms 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene, but no tumors developed. In the two-stage promotion test, cholera toxin (10-100 ng) was injected for one or two weeks into the initiated skin and then mezerein (4 micrograms) was applied twice a week for 18 weeks, but the toxin did not increase incidence or numbers of papillomas.