Project description:Identifying patients at risk for metastatic relapse is a critical need in oncology. We identified a common missense germline variant in PCSK9 that associates with reduced breast cancer survival outcomes in multiple cohorts. Genetic modeling of this gain-of-function single nucleotide variant in mice revealed that it causally promoted breast cancer metastasis. Conversely, host PCSK9 deletion reduced metastatic colonization in multiple breast cancer models. Host PCSK9 promoted metastatic initiation events in lung and increased proliferative competence by targeting tumoral LRP1 receptors which repress metastasis-promoting genes. Antibody-mediated therapeutic inhibition of PCSK9 suppressed breast cancer metastasis in multiple models. This variant stratified women in a large Swedish early-stage breast cancer cohort into those with 98% versus 78% distant-metastasis-free interval at 15 years after diagnosis. Our findings reveal that a commonly inherited genetic alteration predicts breast cancer survival and governs breast cancer metastasis—uncovering a hereditary basis underlying a prevalent cause of mortality.
Project description:Identifying patients at risk for metastatic relapse is a critical need in oncology. We identified a common missense germline variant in PCSK9 that associates with reduced breast cancer survival outcomes in multiple cohorts. Genetic modeling of this gain-of-function single nucleotide variant in mice revealed that it causally promoted breast cancer metastasis. Conversely, host PCSK9 deletion reduced metastatic colonization in multiple breast cancer models. Host PCSK9 promoted metastatic initiation events in lung and increased proliferative competence by targeting tumoral LRP1 receptors which repress metastasis-promoting genes. Antibody-mediated therapeutic inhibition of PCSK9 suppressed breast cancer metastasis in multiple models. This variant stratified women in a large Swedish early-stage breast cancer cohort into those with 98% versus 78% distant-metastasis-free interval at 15 years after diagnosis. Our findings reveal that a commonly inherited genetic alteration predicts breast cancer survival and governs breast cancer metastasis—uncovering a hereditary basis underlying a prevalent cause of mortality.
Project description:Identifying patients at risk for metastatic relapse is a critical need in oncology. We identified a common missense germline variant in PCSK9 that associates with reduced breast cancer survival outcomes in multiple cohorts. Genetic modeling of this gain-of-function single nucleotide variant in mice revealed that it causally promoted breast cancer metastasis. Conversely, host PCSK9 deletion reduced metastatic colonization in multiple breast cancer models. Host PCSK9 promoted metastatic initiation events in lung and increased proliferative competence by targeting tumoral LRP1 receptors which repress metastasis-promoting genes. Antibody-mediated therapeutic inhibition of PCSK9 suppressed breast cancer metastasis in multiple models. This variant stratified women in a large Swedish early-stage breast cancer cohort into those with 98% versus 78% distant-metastasis-free interval at 15 years after diagnosis. Our findings reveal that a commonly inherited genetic alteration predicts breast cancer survival and governs breast cancer metastasis—uncovering a hereditary basis underlying a prevalent cause of mortality.
Project description:Identifying patients at risk for metastatic relapse is a critical need in oncology. We identified a common missense germline variant in PCSK9 that associates with reduced breast cancer survival outcomes in multiple cohorts. Genetic modeling of this gain-of-function single nucleotide variant in mice revealed that it causally promoted breast cancer metastasis. Conversely, host PCSK9 deletion reduced metastatic colonization in multiple breast cancer models. Host PCSK9 promoted metastatic initiation events in lung and increased proliferative competence by targeting tumoral LRP1 receptors which repress metastasis-promoting genes. Antibody-mediated therapeutic inhibition of PCSK9 suppressed breast cancer metastasis in multiple models. This variant stratified women in a large Swedish early-stage breast cancer cohort into those with 98% versus 78% distant-metastasis-free interval at 15 years after diagnosis. Our findings reveal that a commonly inherited genetic alteration predicts breast cancer survival and governs breast cancer metastasis—uncovering a hereditary basis underlying a prevalent cause of mortality.
Project description:Identifying patients at risk for metastatic relapse is a critical need in oncology. We identified a common missense germline variant in PCSK9 (rs562556) that associates with reduced breast cancer survival outcomes in multiple cohorts. Genetic modeling of this gain-of-function single nucleotide variant in mice revealed that it causally promoted breast cancer metastasis. Conversely, host PCSK9 deletion reduced metastatic colonization in multiple breast cancer models. Host PCSK9 promoted metastatic initiation events in lung and increased proliferative competence by targeting tumoral LRP1 receptors which repress metastasis-promoting genes. Antibody-mediated therapeutic inhibition of PCSK9 suppressed breast cancer metastasis in multiple models. rs562556 stratified women in a large Swedish early-stage breast cancer cohort into those with 98% versus 78% distant-metastasis-free interval at 15 years after diagnosis. Our findings reveal that a commonly inherited genetic alteration predicts breast cancer survival and governs breast cancer metastasis—uncovering a hereditary basis underlying a prevalent cause of mortality.
Project description:Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death among elderly people. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is an important regulator of cholesterol metabolism. Herein, we investigated the role of PCSK9 in age-related CVD. Both in humans and rats, sPCSK9 correlated positively with increasing age and the development of cardiovascular dysfunction. Network analysis identified PCSK9 as an important factor in age-associated lipid alterations and it correlated positively with intima media thickness, a clinical parameter of CVD risk. PCSK9 inhibition with alirocumab effectively reduced the CVD progression in aging rats suggesting that PCSK9 plays an important role in cardiovascular aging.
Project description:The aim of the study was to characterize the role of PCSK9 in human beta cells. We performed siRNA-mediated knockdown of PCSK9 in human beta cell line EndoC-bH1 and compared the expression profiles against control siRNA-treated cells.