Dataset Information

Breast-Specific Epigenetic Regulation of DeltaNp73 and Its Role in DNA-Damage-Response of BRCA1-Mutated Human Mammary Epithelial Cells.

ABSTRACT: The function of BRCA1/2 proteins is essential for maintaining genomic integrity in all cell types. However, why women who carry deleterious germline mutations in BRCA face an extremely high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers specifically has remained an enigma. We propose that breast-specific epigenetic modifications, which regulate tissue differentiation, could team up with BRCA deficiency and affect tissue susceptibility to cancer. In earlier work, we compared genome-wide methylation profiles of various normal epithelial tissues and identified breast-specific methylated gene promoter regions. Here, we focused on deltaNp73, the truncated isoform of p73, which possesses antiapoptotic and pro-oncogenic functions. We showed that the promoter of deltaNp73 is unmethylated in normal human breast epithelium and methylated in various other normal epithelial tissues and cell types. Accordingly, deltaNp73 was markedly induced by DNA damage in human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) but not in other epithelial cell types. Moreover, the induction of deltaNp73 protected HMECs from DNA damage-induced cell death, and this effect was more substantial in HMECs from BRCA1 mutation carriers. Notably, when BRCA1 was knocked down in MCF10A, a non-malignant breast epithelial cell line, both deltaNp73 induction and its protective effect from cell death were augmented upon DNA damage. Interestingly, deltaNp73 induction also resulted in inhibition of BRCA1 and BRCA2 expression following DNA damage. In conclusion, breast-specific induction of deltaNp73 promotes survival of BRCA1-deficient mammary epithelial cells upon DNA damage. This might result in the accumulation of genomic alterations and allow the outgrowth of breast cancers. These findings indicate deltaNp73 as a potential modifier of breast cancer susceptibility in BRCA1 mutation carriers and may stimulate novel strategies of prevention and treatment for these high-risk women.

SUBMITTER: Avraham A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7564633 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Breast-Specific Epigenetic Regulation of DeltaNp73 and Its Role in DNA-Damage-Response of <i>BRCA1</i>-Mutated Human Mammary Epithelial Cells.

Avraham Ayelet A Feldman Susanna S Cho Sean Soonweng SS Kol Ayala A Heler Lior L Riklin-Nahmias Emmanuela E Sella Avishay A Karni Tamar T Allweis Tanir M TM Sukumar Saraswati S Evron Ella E

Cancers 20200821 9

The function of BRCA1/2 proteins is essential for maintaining genomic integrity in all cell types. However, why women who carry deleterious germline mutations in <i>BRCA</i> face an extremely high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers specifically has remained an enigma. We propose that breast-specific epigenetic modifications, which regulate tissue differentiation, could team up with BRCA deficiency and affect tissue susceptibility to cancer. In earlier work, we compared genome-wide met ...[more]

PMID: 32825620

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Project description:Background: Breast cancer is a complex disease, encompassed by different clinically and molecularly stratified entities. In 2000, Perou and colleagues demonstrated that tumor phenotypic diversity correlates with differences in global gene expression patterns, which in turn reflect aspects of the biological behavior of the tumors. Gene expression profiling has distinguished sporadic breast tumor sub-classes with genetic, histopathological and clinical differences, however, little is known about the molecular classification of hereditary breast tumors. It has been recently suggested that most tumors arising in BRCA1 mutation carriers display a basal-like phenotype, with the percentages reported in different studies ranging from 44 to almost 100%. In the present study we used expression profiling to produce a molecular classification of BRCA1-associated breast tumors and applied an integrative approach to examine biological dependencies or differences. Methods and Findings: We used frozen tumor tissue from fourteen patients all of which harbored germline pathological mutations in BRCA1. Total RNA extraction, amplification and labeling with Cy5 were performed using standard protocols. Universal Human Reference RNA (Stratagene) was used as a reference and labeled with Cy3. Each pair of Cy3/Cy5 samples was hybridized onto the CNIO human OncoChip V2, which consists of a spotted microarray with 11,675 cDNA clones from the I.M.A.G.E. Consortium. Two channel ratios (Cy5/Cy3) for each spot were generated and quantified using GenePix Pro 5.1 (Axon Instruments, Inc., Union City, CA, USA). Data were normalized and filtered and multiple statistical analyses were performed. The data are deposited in the GEO database under the accession number GSE12350. A tissue microarray (TMA) containing an independent series of 15 BRCA1 tumors was used to validate some of the results obtained. We have described molecular signatures that define BRCA1 subclasses depending on the expression of the gene encoding for Estrogen Receptor, ESR1. Signatures were found to be molecularly associated with different biological processes and transcriptional regulatory programs. The signature of ESR1-positive tumors was mainly linked to cell proliferation-related processes and, therefore, regulated by the estrogen receptor, while the signature of ESR1-negative tumors was mainly linked to the immune response and possibly regulated by transcription factors of the REL/NFκB family. These signatures were then verified in an independent series of hereditary and sporadic breast tumors, which revealed a possible prognostic value for each subclass. Over-expression of immune response genes appears to be a common feature of ER-negative sporadic and hereditary breast cancer and is associated with good prognosis. Interestingly, the ESR1-negative tumors were sub-stratified into two groups presenting light differences in the magnitude of the expression of immune response transcripts and REL/NFκB transcription factors, and this could be dependent on the type of germline alteration. In addition, analysis of the human protein-protein interaction network provides the wiring diagram of critical molecular associations in BRCA1 tumorigenesis and identifies close relationships between the different signatures. Conclusions: In summary, in the present study we have established the gene expression profiling of a series of BRCA1 tumors and found that there is a further degree of heterogeneity beyond the main classification by the expression of ESR1 and the presence or absence of a basal-like phenotype. We have identified specific signatures for ESR1-positive and ESR1-negative BRCA1 tumors, the latter characterized by the enrichment of immune response and cell cycle genes, and have found that slight differences in the level of expression of the immune response stratify the ESR1-negative BRCA1 tumors into two additional sub-groups (A and B) with possible prognostic differences. NFkB could be a major driver responsible for the levels of both immune response and apoptotic genes in this group of tumors, which could in turn be related to the type of germline mutation in BRCA1. This study reveals the molecular complexity of BRCA1 breast tumors, which are found to display similarities to sporadic tumors, and suggests possible prognostic implications. 14 samples (primary breast tumors containing a BRCA1 mutation) were hybridized to a cDNA microarray in order to investigate the possible heterogeneity within the BRCA1 group.

Dataset Information

Breast-Specific Epigenetic Regulation of DeltaNp73 and Its Role in DNA-Damage-Response of BRCA1-Mutated Human Mammary Epithelial Cells.

Publications

Breast-Specific Epigenetic Regulation of DeltaNp73 and Its Role in DNA-Damage-Response of <i>BRCA1</i>-Mutated Human Mammary Epithelial Cells.

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