A common carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene causes p53 overexpression in mouse cervix via DNA damage

- The results showed that benzo[a]pyrene induced a significant and dose-dependent increase in the number of DNA damaged cells and the tail length as well as tail moment in cervical tissue.
- The expression level of p53 protein and mRNA is significantly increased in cervical tissue of benzo[a]pyrene treated mice.
- The increase in the expression of the p53 gene may be due to the DNA damage induced by benzo[a]pyrene in cervical tissue.