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Schwarzenbach H, Eichelser C, Kropidlowski J, Janni W, Rack B, Pantel K. Loss of heterozygosity at tumor suppressor genes detectable on fractionated circulating cell-free tumor DNA as indicator of breast cancer progression. Clin Cancer Res 2012; 18:5719-30. [PMID: 23014523 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-12-0142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE LOH on circulating DNA may provide tumor-specific information on breast cancer. As identification of LOH on cell-free DNA is impeded by the prevalence of wild type DNA in blood of cancer patients, we fractionated plasma DNA, and determined the diagnostic and prognostic value of both fractions. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Our cohort of 388 patients with primary breast cancer before chemotherapy was selected from a multicenter study (SUCCESS). Postoperative plasma was fractionated in low- and high-molecular weight DNA by two different column systems. In both fractions, LOH was determined by a PCR-based microsatellite analysis using a panel of 8 polymorphic markers. Circulating tumor DNA in plasma from 30 patients after chemotherapy was additionally analyzed. The significance levels were adjusted for multiple comparisons. RESULTS More patients (38%) had LOH at all markers in the fraction containing short DNA fragments than in the fraction containing the long DNA molecules (28%, P = 0.0001). In both fractions 32.85% of LOH were concordant. LOH at the markers D3S1605, D10S1765, D12S1725, D13S218, and D17S855 significantly correlated with tumor stage, tumor size, and lymph node metastasis, positive progesterone, and HER2 receptor status. Most importantly, LOH at D12S1725 mapping to cyclin D2 correlated with shorter overall survival (P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS The improved detection of LOH on cell-free DNA provides important information on DNA losses of tumor suppressor genes TIG1, PTEN, cyclin D2, RB1, and BRCA1 in breast cancer. In particular, loss of the cyclin D2 gene might become an important prognostic marker easily detectable in the peripheral blood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi Schwarzenbach
- Department of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
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2
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Novel anti-apoptotic effect of the retinoblastoma protein: implications for polyamine analogue toxicity. Amino Acids 2011; 42:929-37. [PMID: 21809081 DOI: 10.1007/s00726-011-1007-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2011] [Accepted: 06/28/2011] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
The retinoblastoma protein (pRb) pathway is frequently altered in breast cancer cells. pRb is involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and cell death. The breast cancer cell line L56Br-C1 does not express pRb and is extremely sensitive to treatment with the polyamine analogue N(1),N(11)-diethylnorspermine (DENSPM) which causes apoptosis. Polyamines are essential for the regulation of cell proliferation, cell differentiation and cell death. DENSPM depletes cells of polyamines, e.g., by inducing the activity of the polyamine catabolic enzyme spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT). In this study, L56Br-C1 cells were transfected with human pRb-cDNA. Overexpression of pRb inhibited DENSPM-induced cell death and DENSPM-induced SSAT activity. This suggests that the pRb protein level is a promising marker for polyamine depletion sensitivity and that there is a connection between pRb and the regulation of SSAT activity. We also show that SSAT protein levels and SSAT activity do not always correlate, suggesting that there is an unknown regulation of SSAT.
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Affiliation(s)
- A S Leong
- Division of Tissue Pathology, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science and Department of Pathology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia
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Turner DP, Findlay VJ, Moussa O, Watson DK. Defining ETS transcription regulatory networks and their contribution to breast cancer progression. J Cell Biochem 2008; 102:549-59. [PMID: 17661355 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.21494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
ETS factors are members of one of the largest families of evolutionarily conserved transcription factors, regulating critical functions in normal cell homeostasis, that when perturbed contribute to tumor progression. The well documented alterations in ETS factor expression and function during breast cancer progression result in pleiotropic effects manifested by the downstream effect on their target genes. Multiple ETS factors bind to the same regulatory sites present on target genes, suggesting redundant or competitive functions. Furthermore, additional events contribute to, or may be necessary for, target gene regulation. In order to advance our understanding of the ETS-dependent regulation of breast cancer progression and metastasis, this prospect article puts forward a model for examining the effects of simultaneous expression of multiple transcription factors on the transcriptome of non-metastatic and metastatic breast cancer. Compared to existing RNA profiles defined following expression of individual transcription factors, the anti- and pro-metastatic signatures obtained by examining specific ETS regulatory networks will significantly improve our ability to accurately predict tumor progression and advance our understanding of gene regulation in cancer. Coordination of multiple ETS gene functions also mediates interactions between tumor and stromal cells and thus contributes to the cancer phenotype. As such, these new insights may provide a novel view of the ETS gene family as well as a focal point for studying the complex biological control involved in tumor progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- David P Turner
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA
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Scambia G, Lovergine S, Masciullo V. RB family members as predictive and prognostic factors in human cancer. Oncogene 2006; 25:5302-8. [PMID: 16936751 DOI: 10.1038/sj.onc.1209620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The retinoblastoma family members--pRb, pRb2/p130 and p107--are tumor suppressor genes involved in controlling four major cellular processes: growth arrest, apoptosis, differentiation and angiogenesis. Molecular genetic studies have identified abnormalities of these tumor suppressor genes in a large proportion of human cancers. These genetic alterations have emerged as significant factors in the pathogenesis and progression of many types of tumors and are therefore likely to provide relevant information to assess risk in cancer patients. There is a pressing clinical need to identify prognostic and predictive factors for patients with cancer, because there is an undeniable importance in being able to determine which patients will have a favorable outcome without further therapy (prognostic factor) and which will need some additional treatment (predictive factor). This review examines the predictive and/or prognostic role of each retinoblastoma family member in human cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Scambia
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy
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Woods Ignatoski KM, Dziubinski ML, Ammerman C, Ethier SP. Cooperative interactions of HER-2 and HPV-16 oncoproteins in the malignant transformation of human mammary epithelial cells. Neoplasia 2005; 7:788-98. [PMID: 16207481 PMCID: PMC1501888 DOI: 10.1593/neo.05106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2005] [Revised: 04/07/2005] [Accepted: 04/11/2005] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
To better understand the mechanisms of transformation by the oncogene HER-2, we transduced the human mammary epithelial (HME) cell line MCF-10A with HER-2 and developed a cell line that appeared to moderately overexpress HER-2. These MCF-10HER-2 cells were unable to grow in the absence of epidermal growth factor (EGF). However, coexpression of HER-2 with the HPV-16 oncoproteins E6 and E7 resulted in EGF-independent cells that expressed very high levels of constitutively activated HER-2. Interestingly, coexpression of E7 with HER-2 resulted in cells that were EGF-independent for growth but did not express HER-2 to high levels, and coexpression of E6 with HER-2 resulted in cells expressing higher levels of HER-2, which were still dependent on EGF for growth and survival. The MCF-10HER-2E7 and HER-2/E6E7 cells exhibited constitutive activation of a form of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) that had a faster electrophoretic mobility than EGFR activated by exogenous growth factors. Exposure of cells with EGFR activation to ZD1839 (Iressa), at concentrations specific for EGFR, had little or no influence on proliferation of cells with amplified HER-2 but little or no EGFR. These results indicate that HER-2, E6, and E7 cooperate with endogenous EGFR to yield fully transformed cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen M Woods Ignatoski
- Department of Radiation Oncology and The Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Moffa AB, Tannheimer SL, Ethier SP. Transforming Potential of Alternatively Spliced Variants of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 2 in Human Mammary Epithelial Cells. Mol Cancer Res 2004. [DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.643.2.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
A breast cancer cell line developed in our laboratory (SUM-52PE) has a 12-fold amplification and high-level overexpression of the oncogene fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2). Previously, nine different alternatively spliced FGFR2 variants were isolated from this cell line. Overexpression of two variants that differ only in their carboxyl termini (C1 and C3) has been successfully accomplished in the immortalized human mammary epithelial cell line H16N2. FGFR2 expression led to the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling cascades. Phosphorylation of the adapter protein FGF receptor substrate 2 is much more robust in the cells expressing the C3 variant of FGFR2 compared with the C1 variant. H16N2 cells expressing the full-length FGFR2 with the C1 or C3 carboxyl terminus were tested for their ability to grow under epidermal growth factor (EGF)–independent conditions, in soft agar, and for their ability to invade naturally occurring basement membranes and compared with the parental SUM-52PE cell line. All three cell lines grew under EGF-independent conditions and all were inhibited by the FGFR family specific inhibitor PD173074. The full-length FGFR2-C1 and FGFR2-C3 variants grew robustly in soft agar similar to the parental cell line SUM-52PE. However, cells expressing the C3 variant formed large colonies in agar in both insulin-free and EGF-free medium, whereas the cells expressing the C1 variant required insulin for growth. Soft agar growth was also inhibited by PD173074. Because SUM-52PE was developed from a metastatic breast carcinoma, the FGFR2-overexpressing cell lines were assessed for their ability to invade sea urchin embryo cell membranes. H16N2 cells expressing the C1 carboxyl terminus failed to invade sea urchin embryo cell membranes. By contrast, FGFR2-C3-expressing cells were as invasive as the SUM-52 breast cancer cells and erbB-2-overexpressing H16N2 cells. These results indicate that FGFR2 is a transforming oncogene in human mammary epithelial cells when expressed to levels similar to that found in breast cancer cells with FGFR2 gene amplification. Furthermore, the results suggest that different splice variants have differing transforming activities and that signaling from variants expressing the C3 carboxyl terminus results in more autonomous signaling, cell growth, and invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison B. Moffa
- 1Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program and
- 2Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation and Cancer Biology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Stacey L. Tannheimer
- 2Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation and Cancer Biology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Stephen P. Ethier
- 1Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program and
- 2Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation and Cancer Biology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Botos J, Smith R, Kochevar DT. Retinoblastoma function is a better indicator of cellular phenotype in cultured breast adenocarcinoma cells than retinoblastoma expression. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2002; 227:354-62. [PMID: 11976406 DOI: 10.1177/153537020222700508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Loss of or lowered retinoblastoma (Rb) expression has been included as a prognostic indicator in breast cancer. Low or no Rb expression is seen most commonly in high-grade breast adenocarcinomas, suggesting that a relationship may exist between loss of Rb and a less differentiated state, high proliferation rate, and high metastatic potential. In this study, we compared Rb function in two established breast adenocarcinoma cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, and in an established immortalized mammary epithelial cell line, MCF10A. Cells were synchronized in G0/G1 and were released for several durations, at which time total Rb protein, mRNA, and Rb/E2F/DNA complex formation were evaluated. Rb protein was significantly higher in the tumor cells than in MCF10A cells. However, Rb function was high for a longer duration in MCF10A cells as compared with MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Our data support the general conclusion that Rb function, but not necessarily Rb protein, is lower in highly malignant breast adenocarcinoma cells as compared with lower grade tumor cells. These results emphasize the relevance of assessing Rb function over Rb protein. This is particularly important if Rb is to be used as a prognostic indicator for breast adenocarcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeannine Botos
- Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
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Bland KI. The 1999 James Ewing Lecture: in pursuit of molecules of oncogenesis and neoplastic therapy. Ann Surg Oncol 1999; 6:528-41. [PMID: 10493620 DOI: 10.1007/s10434-999-0528-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Breast cancer is a progressive, phenotypic, genetic and epigenetic alteration, induced by various stimulants of which the principal steroid hormone, estrogen, initiates and promotes neoplastic transformation of normal ductal mammary epithelium to acquire distinct biochemical and molecular characteristics. The molecular events that characterize oncogenesis with dysregulated physiologic states represent an area of intense translational research. The progress of the last century suggests that the targeted responses initiated by this steroid hormone can be attenuated and modified with anti-estrogen therapies or through applied intervention with selective estrogen receptor modulation. New pharmacological, genetic, and biological agents will undoubtedly afford clinical investigators of the next millennium the opportunity to provide major impact on the disease progression of this neoplasm, through these targeted endocrine responses for estrogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- K I Bland
- Department of Surgery, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
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Ceccarelli C, Santini D, Chieco P, Taffurelli M, Gamberini M, Pileri SA, Marrano D. Retinoblastoma (RB1) gene product expression in breast carcinoma. Correlation with Ki-67 growth fraction and biopathological profile. J Clin Pathol 1998; 51:818-24. [PMID: 10193322 PMCID: PMC500975 DOI: 10.1136/jcp.51.11.818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AIMS To investigate the expression of retinoblastoma protein (pRb) in invasive breast tumours and compare its expression with the major biopathological prognostic indicators to identify more aggressive subgroups. MATERIAL Archival paraffin embedded tissues from 153 consecutive primary breast carcinomas. METHODS pRb, Ki-67, and oestrogen receptor/progesterone receptor proteins were identified by immunohistochemistry and score values were recorded by image cytometric analysis; p53 and EGFr expression was also evaluated. RESULTS pRb scores correlated strongly with proliferation activity as determined by Ki-67 staining. Positive relations were also observed between pRb scores, tumour size, nuclear and histological grade, and oestrogen receptor/progesterone receptor content, while abnormal p53 accumulation was not associated with pRb expression. Among the high proliferating carcinomas it was possible to identify 13 cases with loss of pRb expression. CONCLUSIONS pRb expression paralleled proliferative activity in the majority of breast carcinomas examined, suggesting that in these cases the protein behaves normally in regulating the cell cycle. Conversely in cases with loss of pRb immunostaining, the combined expression of specific highly aggressive factors (EGFr and p53 expression, oestrogen receptor/progesterone receptor negative status, and high K67) seems to characterise a more aggressive phenotype showing growth advantage and cellular "progression" rather than significant nodal involvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Ceccarelli
- Laboratorio di Immunocitopatologia Oncologica, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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Abstract
Two genes, p107 and Rb2/p130, are strictly related to RB, the most investigated tumor suppressor gene, responsible for susceptibility to retinoblastoma. The products of these three genes, namely pRb, p107, and pRb2/p130 are characterized by a peculiar steric conformation, called "pocket," responsible for most of the functional interactions characterizing the activity of these proteins in the homeostasis of the cell cycle. The interest in these genes and proteins springs from their ability to regulate cell cycle processes negatively, being able, for example, to dramatically slow down neoplastic growth. So far, among these genes, only RB is firmly established to act as a tumor suppressor, because its lack-of-function is clearly involved in tumor onset and progression. It has been found deleted or mutated in most retinoblastomas and sarcomas, but its inactivation is likely to play a crucial role in other types of human cancers. The two other members of the family have been discovered more recently and are currently under extensive investigation. We review analogies and differences among the pocket protein family members, in an attempt to understand their functions in normal and cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- M G Paggi
- Istituto Regina Elena per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Centro Ricerca Sperimentale, Rome, Italy
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Zhu YM, Haynes AP, Keith FJ, Russell NH. Abnormalities of retinoblastoma gene expression in hematological malignancies. Leuk Lymphoma 1995; 18:61-7. [PMID: 8580830 DOI: 10.3109/10428199509064923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
The human retinoblastoma gene product which is involved in cell cycle control and also acts as a transcriptional repressor of genes involved in growth control, is constitutively expressed as a phosphoprotein in normal hemopoietic cells. Abnormalities of the retinoblastoma gene expression leading to loss of protein expression either due to structural changes, mutations or transcriptional abnormalities have been found in a variety of hematological malignancies. There is evidence that loss of Rb protein expression is particularly associated with tumour progression and an adverse response to therapy which may be linked to the biological effect of Rb protein loss on the growth characteristics of tumour cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y M Zhu
- Department of Haematology, Nottingham City Hospital, U.K
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Abstract
The first human tumour suppressor gene, the Retinoblastoma Susceptibility gene (RB1) was first demonstrated in retinoblastoma, a rare paediatric eye tumour which has been studied extensively over the last century. Genetic studies of retinoblastoma have yielded unique insights into familial cancer syndromes and the mechanisms of oncogenesis by tumour suppressor genes such as the RB1 gene. In this view, we will summarize past research into the genetics of retinoblastoma that led to the discovery of the RB1 gene and discuss the influence these results have had on the field of cancer research. In addition, we will discuss current research into RB1 as it relates to cancer and its potential for new therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- E L Schubert
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030
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