1
|
Miyano M, Sayaman RW, Shalabi SF, Senapati P, Lopez JC, Angarola BL, Hinz S, Zirbes A, Anczukow O, Yee LD, Sedrak MS, Stampfer MR, Seewaldt VL, LaBarge MA. Breast-Specific Molecular Clocks Comprised of ELF5 Expression and Promoter Methylation Identify Individuals Susceptible to Cancer Initiation. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 2021; 14:779-794. [PMID: 34140348 PMCID: PMC8338914 DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.capr-20-0635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
A robust breast cancer prevention strategy requires risk assessment biomarkers for early detection. We show that expression of ELF5, a transcription factor critical for normal mammary development, is downregulated in mammary luminal epithelia with age. DNA methylation of the ELF5 promoter is negatively correlated with expression in an age-dependent manner. Both ELF5 methylation and gene expression were used to build biological clocks to estimate chronological ages of mammary epithelia. ELF5 clock-based estimates of biological age in luminal epithelia from average-risk women were within three years of chronological age. Biological ages of breast epithelia from BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers, who were high risk for developing breast cancer, suggested they were accelerated by two decades relative to chronological age. The ELF5 DNA methylation clock had better performance at predicting biological age in luminal epithelial cells as compared with two other epigenetic clocks based on whole tissues. We propose that the changes in ELF5 expression or ELF5-proximal DNA methylation in luminal epithelia are emergent properties of at-risk breast tissue and constitute breast-specific biological clocks. PREVENTION RELEVANCE: ELF5 expression or DNA methylation level at the ELF5 promoter region can be used as breast-specific biological clocks to identify women at higher than average risk of breast cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Masaru Miyano
- Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope, Duarte, California
| | - Rosalyn W Sayaman
- Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope, Duarte, California
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Sundus F Shalabi
- Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope, Duarte, California
- Irell and Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, City of Hope, Duarte, California
| | - Parijat Senapati
- Department of Diabetes Complications and Metabolism, Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope, Duarte, California
| | - Jennifer C Lopez
- Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope, Duarte, California
| | | | - Stefan Hinz
- Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope, Duarte, California
| | - Arrianna Zirbes
- Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope, Duarte, California
- Irell and Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, City of Hope, Duarte, California
| | - Olga Anczukow
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut
| | - Lisa D Yee
- Department of Surgery, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California
| | - Mina S Sedrak
- Center for Cancer and Aging, City of Hope, Duarte, California
- Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California
| | - Martha R Stampfer
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
| | - Victoria L Seewaldt
- Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope, Duarte, California
| | - Mark A LaBarge
- Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope, Duarte, California.
- Center for Cancer and Aging, City of Hope, Duarte, California
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
- Center for Cancer Biomarkers, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Gross K, Wronski A, Skibinski A, Phillips S, Kuperwasser C, Dettman RW, Wessels A. Cell Fate Decisions During Breast Cancer Development. J Dev Biol 2016; 4:4. [PMID: 27110512 PMCID: PMC4840277 DOI: 10.3390/jdb4010004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
During the formation of breast cancer, many genes become altered as cells evolve progressively from normal to a pre-malignant to a malignant state of growth. How mutations in genes lead to specific subtypes of human breast cancer is only partially understood. Here we review how initial genetic or epigenetic alterations within mammary epithelial cells (MECs) can alter cell fate decisions and put pre-malignant cells on a path towards cancer development with specific phenotypes. Understanding the early stages of breast cancer initiation and progression and how normal developmental processes are hijacked during transformation has significant implications for improving early detection and prevention of breast cancer. In addition, insights gleaned from this understanding may also be important for developing subtype-specific treatment options.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kayla Gross
- Department of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler Convergence Laboratory, Tufts University School of Medicine, 145 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Molecular Oncology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Ania Wronski
- Department of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler Convergence Laboratory, Tufts University School of Medicine, 145 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Molecular Oncology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Adam Skibinski
- Department of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Molecular Oncology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Sarah Phillips
- Department of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Molecular Oncology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Charlotte Kuperwasser
- Department of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler Convergence Laboratory, Tufts University School of Medicine, 145 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Molecular Oncology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
LaBarge MA, Mora-Blanco EL, Samson S, Miyano M. Breast Cancer beyond the Age of Mutation. Gerontology 2015; 62:434-42. [PMID: 26539838 DOI: 10.1159/000441030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2015] [Accepted: 09/11/2015] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Age is the greatest risk factor for breast cancer, but the reasons underlying this association are unclear. While there is undeniably a genetic component to all cancers, the accumulation of mutations with age is insufficient to explain the age-dependent increase in breast cancer incidence. In this viewpoint, we propose a multilevel framework to better understand the respective roles played by somatic mutation, microenvironment, and epigenetics making women more susceptible to breast cancer with age. The process of aging is associated with gradual breast tissue changes that not only corrupt the tumor-suppressive activity of normal tissue but also impose age-specific epigenetic changes that alter gene expression, thus reinforcing cellular phenotypes that are associated with a continuum of age-related tissue microenvironments. The evidence discussed here suggests that while the riddle of whether epigenetics drives microenvironmental changes, or whether changes in the microenvironment alter heritable cellular memory has not been solved, a path has been cleared enabling functional analysis leading to the prediction of key nodes in the network that link the microenvironment with the epigenome. The hypothesis that the accumulation of somatic mutations with age drives the age-related increase in breast cancer incidence, if correct, has a somewhat nihilistic conclusion, namely that cancers will be impossible to avoid. Alternatively, if microenvironment-driven epigenetic changes are the key to explaining susceptibility to age-related breast cancers, then there is hope that primary prevention is possible because epigenomes are relatively malleable.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mark A LaBarge
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif., USA
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
4
|
Turner KJ, Vasu V, Greenall J, Griffin DK. Telomere length analysis and preterm infant health: the importance of assay design in the search for novel biomarkers. Biomark Med 2014; 8:485-98. [PMID: 24796612 DOI: 10.2217/bmm.14.13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Preterm infants develop an 'aged' phenotype in comparison with term-born infants, one component of which is adverse metabolic health and, therefore, long-term health follow-up is warranted to identify morbidity. In light of this, the identification and use of biomarkers to aid with prognosis would be a welcome development. Telomeres are repeat sequences at the ends of each chromosome arm known to shorten as a consequence of cellular aging, and in relation to several disease conditions. The hypothesis that expreterm infants manifest alterations in telomere attrition rate is, therefore, one of interest. Analysis of telomere length maybe a plausible technique to predict prognosis in relation to preterm birth, and early life environmental and nutritional exposures. In this article, we review the literature on telomere length analysis in the preterm infant population and examine the tools available to measure telomere length.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kara J Turner
- University of Kent, School of Biosciences, Giles Lane, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NJ, UK
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
The effect of chemotherapeutic agents on telomere length maintenance in breast cancer cell lines. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2014; 145:581-91. [PMID: 24807106 PMCID: PMC4031391 DOI: 10.1007/s10549-014-2975-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2014] [Accepted: 04/17/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian telomeric DNA consists of tandem repeats of the sequence TTAGGG associated with a specialized set of proteins, known collectively as Shelterin. These telosomal proteins protect the ends of chromosomes against end-to-end fusion and degradation. Short telomeres in breast cancer cells confer telomere dysfunction and this can be related to Shelterin proteins and their level of expression in breast cancer cell lines. This study investigates whether expression of Shelterin and Shelterin-associated proteins are altered, and influence the protection and maintenance of telomeres, in breast cancer cells. 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-aza-CdR) and trichostatin A (TSA) were used in an attempt to reactivate the expression of silenced genes. Our studies have shown that Shelterin and Shelterin-associated genes were down-regulated in breast cancer cell lines; this may be due to epigenetic modification of DNA as the promoter region of POT1 was found to be partially methylated. Shelterin genes expression was up-regulated upon treatment of 21NT breast cancer cells with 5-aza-CdR and TSA. The telomere length of treated 21NT cells was measured by q-PCR showed an increase in telomere length at different time points. Our studies have shown that down-regulation of Shelterin genes is partially due to methylation in some epithelial breast cancer cell lines. Removal of epigenetic silencing results in up-regulation of Shelterin and Shelterin-associated genes which can then lead to telomere length elongation and stability.
Collapse
|
6
|
Liu T, Wang N, Cao J, Sofiadis A, Dinets A, Zedenius J, Larsson C, Xu D. The age- and shorter telomere-dependent TERT promoter mutation in follicular thyroid cell-derived carcinomas. Oncogene 2013; 33:4978-84. [DOI: 10.1038/onc.2013.446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 175] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2013] [Revised: 08/29/2013] [Accepted: 09/02/2013] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
|