Project description:Gene expression changes caused by estrogen treatment of breast cancer cells that re-express ERalpha was investigated by infecting ER-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells for 24 h with recombinant adenovirus encoding full-length human ERalpha (Ad-ERalpha) or control vector (Ad-LacZ), and treating them with 0·01% ethanol (vehicle control) or 10-8 M 17beta-estradiol (E2). After 48 h of treatment, total RNA was isolated and used for transcript profiling on Affymetrix GeneChips. Three independent biological replicates of this experiment were carried out.
Project description:MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells expressing either wild-type estrogen receptor or the mutant estrogen recepor L540Q were treated with estradiol for 1 or 2 hours
Project description:The beneficial effect of the selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulator tamoxifen in the treatment and prevention of breast cancer is assumed to be through its ability to antagonize the stimulatory actions of estrogen, although tamoxifen can also have some estrogen-like agonist effects. Here, we report that, in addition to these mixed agonist/antagonist actions, tamoxifen can also selectively regulate a unique set of >60 genes, which are minimally regulated by estradiol (E2) or raloxifene in ERalpha-positive MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. This gene regulation by tamoxifen is mediated by ERalpha and reversed by E2 or ICI 182,780. Introduction of ERbeta into MCF-7 cells reverses tamoxifen action on approximately 75% of these genes. To examine whether these genes might serve as markers of tamoxifen sensitivity and/or the development of resistance, their expression level was examined in breast cancers of women who had received adjuvant therapy with tamoxifen. High expression of two of the tamoxifen-stimulated genes, YWHAZ/14-3-3z and LOC441453, was found to correlate significantly with disease recurrence following tamoxifen treatment in women with ER-positive cancers and hence seem to be markers of a poor prognosis. Our data indicate a new dimension in tamoxifen action, involving gene expression regulation that is tamoxifen preferential, and identify genes that might serve as markers of tumor responsiveness or resistance to tamoxifen therapy. This may have a potential effect on the choice of tamoxifen versus aromatase inhibitors as adjuvant endocrine therapy.
Project description:SOX genes encode a family of high-mobility group transcription factors that play critical roles in organogenesis. Virtually all members of SOX family have been found to be deregulated in tumors of various origins. However, little is known about the cellular and molecular behaviours involved in the oncogenic potential of SOX proteins. Cell culture experiments, tissue analysis, and molecular profiling revealed that SOX2 promotes cell proliferation and tumorigenesis through its transcription regulation of cell cycle related genes in breast cancer cells Experiment Overall Design: To delineate the molecular mechanism underlying the cell proliferation and tumorigenic properties of SOX2, we investigated the gene expression profile in MCF-7 cells. Briefly, MCF-7 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1 and Human SOX2 expression constructs respectively. 24 hours after transfection, total RNA collected from control and SOX2-overexpressing MCF-7 cells was used to probe Human Genome GeneChip array U133 Plus 2.0
Project description:Estrogen-responsive genes were identified by transcript profiling of estrogen-treated MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The gene expression profile generated after estrogen treatment was compared with that following inducible expression of c-Myc or c-Zip (a deletion mutant of c-Myc that lacks the N-terminal transactivation domains) in clonal MCF-7 cell lines. Experiment Overall Design: RNA was collected in three independent experiments, each including parental MCF-7 cells treated with 17b-estradiol (E2) or ethanol (EtOH), zinc-treated p-delta-MT-c-Myc cells, zinc-treated p-delta-MT-c-Zip cells and zinc-treated empty vector (p-delta-MT) cells. Cells were arrested for 48 h with 10 nM ICI 182780 and then treated for 6 h with either 100 nM E2 or ethanol vehicle, or 75 mM zinc for the stably transfected cell lines.
Project description:As we clarified before, the FOXP3 gene is an X-linked tumor suppressor gene in mammary carcinoma in both human and mouse. We also clarified that the ERBB2 and SKP2 oncogenes were transcriptionally under control of the FOXP3 gene product in mammary epithelial cells. In order to further clarify the FOXP3 down stream target genes in human breast cancer cells, we planed to conduct a microarray analysis of FOXP3-induced gene expression profiling. MCF7, a human breast cancer cell line, with FOXP3-tet-off system was cultured with and without Doxycyclin for 2 days. In the MCF7 cell cultured without Dox, the FOXP3 transcript was significantly induced as compared to the MCF7 cultured with Dox. Total RNA from MCF7 with and wihtout Dox were extracted by Qiagen's RNeasy column and they were applied to Affymetrix Human U133 2.0 array according to the manufacture's protocol. We clarified as yet unknown FOXP3 target genes in human epithelial cells, e.g., the p21 gene, by this analysis.
Project description:BACKGROUND: The AP2 transcription factor family is a set of developmentally regulated, retinoic acid (RA) inducible genes, which regulate expression of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) in breast carcinoma. We hypothesized that AP2 factors regulate a set of genes characteristic of the hormone responsive breast cancer phenotype. To better understand the role of AP2 factors in hormone responsive breast cancer, we sought to identify AP2-target genes in breast epithelial cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Overexpression of AP2 factors was achieved in human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) using adenoviral vectors. AP2 target genes were identified by comparative hybridization to cDNA microarrays containing 30,000 human genes. Expression patterns were confirmed by Northern and Western blot and by elimination of AP2 using siRNA. Potential regulatory elements in promoters of target genes were identified by DNase I hypersensitive site mapping. RESULTS: Comparative cDNA microarray hybridization identified a set of genes induced by overexpression of AP2alpha and AP2gamma in HMECs. The up-regulation of cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 2 (CRABPII), EST-1, and ECM1 was induced by overexpression of AP2alpha, AP2gamma, or a chimeric AP2 factor in which the activation domain of AP2alpha was replaced by the activation domain of herpesvirus VP16. Interestingly, hormone unresponsive MDA-MB-231 cells were resistant to CRABPII induction by any of the AP2 factors. Elimination of AP2gamma in MCF7 cells resulted in a significant reduction in CRABPII expression. AP2alpha induced DNase I hypersensitive sites in the promoter of the CRABPII gene at -5000 bp, which corresponds to the site of action of RAR/RXR factors. CONCLUSIONS: AP2 factors regulate CRABPII expression in HMECs and breast cancer cells and accounts for the associated expression of ERalpha and CRABPII in hormone responsive breast cancer. Because CRABPII mediates growth suppressive effects of RA in breast cancer, the data suggest that AP2 factors have the ability to mediate RA responsiveness through the regulation of CRABP II expression.
Project description:Screens for agents that specifically kill epithelial cancer stem cells (CSCs) have not been possible due to the rarity of these cells within tumor cell populations and their relative instability in culture. We describe here an approach to screening for agents with epithelial CSC-specific toxicity. We implemented this method in a chemical screen and discovered compounds showing selective toxicity for breast CSCs. One compound, salinomycin, reduces the proportion of CSCs by >100-fold relative to paclitaxel, a commonly used breast cancer chemotherapeutic drug. Treatment of mice with salinomycin inhibits mammary tumor growth in vivo and induces increased epithelial differentiation of tumor cells. In addition, global gene expression analyses show that salinomycin treatment results in the loss of expression of breast CSC genes previously identified by analyses of breast tissues isolated directly from patients. This study demonstrates the ability to identify agents with specific toxicity for epithelial CSCs Experiment Overall Design: Experimentally transformed HMLER breast cancer cells were treated in culture with either paclitaxel (10nM) or salinomycin (1uM) for one week. There were three biologic replicates for each treatment condition.
Project description:Background:It has been widely reported that breast cancer aggressiveness may be driven by breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). BCSCs display stemness properties that include self-renewal, tumourigenicity and pluripotency. The regulation of gene expression may have important roles in BCSC stemness and aggressiveness. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the stemness and aggressiveness gene expression profile of BCSCs compared to MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Methods:Human ALDH1+ BCSCs were grown in serum-free Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM)/F12, while MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 were cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum under standard conditions. Total RNA was extracted using the Tripure Isolation Reagent. The relative mRNA expressions of OCT4, ALDH1A1 and CD44 associated with stemness as well as TGF-?1, T?R1, ER?1 and MnSOD associated with aggressiveness in BCSCs and MCF-7 cells were determined using the quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results:The mRNA expressions of OCT4 (5.19-fold ± 0.338; P = 0.001), ALDH1A1 (3.67-fold ± 0.523; P = 0.006), CD44 (2.65-fold ± 0.307; P = 0.006), TGF-?1 (22.89-fold ± 6.840; P = 0.015), T?R1 (3.74-fold ± 1.446; P = 0.045) and MnSOD (4.6-fold ± 1.096; P = 0.014) were higher in BCSCs than in MCF-7 but were almost similar to MDA-MB-231 cells. In contrast, the ER?1 expression of BCSCs (0.97-fold ± 0.080; P = 0.392) was similar to MCF-7 cells, indicating that BSCSs are oestrogen-dependent breast cancer cells. Conclusion:The oestrogen-dependent BCSCs express stemness and aggressiveness genes at a higher level compared to oestrogen-dependent MCF-7 but are almost similar to oestrogen-independent MDA-MB-231 cells.