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Advances in Brief |
Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 [R. J. M.]; Department of Pathology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 0W3 Canada [Y. M., P. H. W.]; Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics and Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 0W3 Canada [P. H. W., C. W., L. C. M., E. L.]
| ABSTRACT |
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| Introduction |
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75% with regional disease and <25% in women with disseminated cancer (1)
. Nevertheless, only 60% of all breast cancers are diagnosed at a local stage, and any improvement in early detection would have a significant impact on reducing overall breast cancer mortality. Improving the diagnosis and clinical management of breast cancer requires access to a wider range of biomarkers able to reflect the molecular phenotype of breast tissue. A special need exists to identify novel genes whose expression is restricted to the mammary epithelium, because these genes have the greatest potential to enhance detection of micrometastatic disease and the potential to report on proliferative changes in the breast, analogous to the ability of elevated serum prostate-specific antigen levels to indicate the presence of hyperplasia or cancer of the prostate gland (2) .
The identification of new tissue-specific markers has benefited especially from expansion of public and private databases for ESTs4 (3 , 4) and by large-scale efforts to profile patterns of gene expression using techniques such as serial analysis of gene expression (5) . Using sequence analysis software and web-based tools developed for molecular profiling, we have identified a novel putative breast-specific gene, belonging to a recently regrouped cluster (UniGene identifier Hs.348419),5 which represents an attractive candidate for a breast tumor marker with obvious potential for cancer diagnostics.
| Materials and Methods |
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RNA Hybridization Analysis for Tissue Specificity.
A 32P-labeled SBEM probe, generated using the cloned SBEM PCR product (396 bp) and the RadPrime DNA labeling system (Life Technologies, Inc., Burlington, Ontario, Canada), was hybridized to a commercially available RNA Master Blot (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA), containing poly(A)+ RNA (100500 ng) isolated from a variety of adult and fetal human tissues, according to the manufacturers instructions.
Cell Culture and RNA Preparation.
Cell lines were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection or other sources and were cultured as follows: DMEM with 10% fetal bovine serum (MCF7, MCF10AT1, MCF10AT3c, SK-UT-1B, and HepG2); DMEM with 10% calf serum (MDA MB-231, Hec 1A, and HeLa); DMEM:Hams F12 (1:1) with 10% fetal bovine serum (ZR-75-1 and RL95-2); RPMI 1640 with 10% fetal bovine serum (T-47D and LNCaP); or MSU-1 medium (8)
with 5% fetal bovine serum (M13SV-1). All media were supplemented with penicillin (50 units/ml), streptomycin (50 µg/ml), HEPES (pH 7.4; 5 mM), and glutamine (2 mM). MCF7, T-47D, and ZR-75-1 cells also received bovine insulin (10 µg/ml). Media and sera were obtained from Life Technologies, Inc. (Life Technologies, Inc., Grand Island, NY). RNA was extracted from cultured cells using guanidinium isothiocyanate, followed by centrifugation through a 5.7 M cesium chloride cushion as described (9)
. RNA from cultured primary HMECs obtained by reduction mammoplasty was a kind gift from P. Ervin (Biotherapies, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI).
Breast Tumors and Axillary Lymph Nodes.
Fifty-four invasive ductal carcinomas were selected from the Manitoba Breast Tumor Bank (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Cases spanned many ER (0298 fmol/mg protein) and PR (01199 fmol/mg protein) levels, as determined by ligand binding assay. Tumors also spanned many grades (Nottingham grade scores from 5 to 9). For 46 tumors, pathological axillary lymph node status (presence or absence of metastasis) was known.
In a subset of cases (n = 20), frozen primary human breast tumor samples and their matched frozen lymph nodes containing (n = 14) or not (n = 6) histologically detectable metastatic cancer cells were available from the Manitoba Breast Tumor Bank. For the primary tumor samples, the ER levels, determined by ligand binding assays, ranged from 2.3 fmol/mg protein to 298 fmol/mg protein, whereas PR levels ranged from 10.1 fmol/mg protein to 112 fmol/mg protein.
RNA Analysis by RT-PCR.
Total RNA was extracted from 20-µm frozen tissue sections (five sections/tumor) and reverse transcribed as described previously (10)
. The primers used for SBEM amplification consisted of SBEM-U (5'-CTTTGAAGCATTTTTGTCTGTG-3'; sense) and SBEM-L (5'-AAGGTAAGTAGTTGGATGAAAT-3'; antisense). PCR amplifications were performed, and PCR products were analyzed as described previously (11)
, with minor modifications. Briefly, aliquots of each reverse transcription mixture (2 µl for Fig. 2
and 0.8 µl for Fig. 3
) were amplified in a final volume of 20 µl, in the presence of 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.4), 50 mM KCl, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 200 µM of each deoxynucleotide triphosphate, 5 ng/µl of each SBEM primer, and 0.5 unit of Taq DNA polymerase. Each PCR consisted of 35 cycles (15 s at 94°C, 30 s at 58°C, and 60 s at 74°C).
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Quantification and Statistical Analysis.
Three independent PCRs were performed for tumor specimens using SBEM, mammaglobin-1, and GAPDH primers and signals, visualized with UV irradiation on a GelDoc2000/ChemiDoc System (Bio-Rad), were quantified by densitometry using the Quantity One software (version 4.2; Bio-Rad). SBEM and mammaglobin-1 expression was normalized to GAPDH expression as described previously (11)
. Correlation between SBEM expression and tumor characteristics or mammaglobin-1 expression was tested by calculation of the Spearman coefficient r. Differences between tumor subgroups were tested using the Mann-Whitney two-tailed test or Fishers exact test.
In Situ Analysis of SBEM mRNA Expression.
In situ hybridization was performed on adjacent paraffin-embedded breast tumor tissue sections corresponding to a case shown to express high levels of SBEM mRNA by RT-PCR, using SBEM 32P-labeled sense and antisense probes, as described previously (12)
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| Results |
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Expression of SBEM mRNA Is Restricted to the Mammary and Salivary Glands.
Database searches suggested that SBEM expression was mainly restricted to breast tissue. To confirm this prediction, we performed hybridization analysis with an RNA MasterBlot containing highly purified polyadenylated RNA from 43 adult and 7 fetal human tissues arrayed on a nylon membrane. A SBEM cDNA probe hybridized exclusively to mRNA from the mammary and salivary glands (Fig. 1)
. Of note, no expression was observed in colon, lung, uterus, ovary, liver, pancreas, kidney, or prostate, all of which represent common primary tumor sites. Additionally, no hybridization to any of the fetal RNAs was observed.
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Analysis of SBEM mRNA in Human Breast Tumors.
Northern blot analyses performed on a small series of 10 cases revealed that SBEM mRNA was 600 bp long and differentially expressed from one sample to another (data not shown). To determine whether SBEM mRNA was widely expressed in human breast tumor tissue, 54 human breast tumors, spanning many ER and PR levels as well as tumor grade and nodal status, were selected from the Manitoba Breast Tumor Bank. Total RNA was extracted from frozen tissue sections and reverse transcribed. PCR amplification of GAPDH (control), mammaglobin-1, and SBEM cDNA was then performed. A PCR product, 396-bp long was detected in all but three tumors (data not shown) when using SBEM-specific primers. After cloning and sequencing, this product was shown to correspond to SBEM cDNA. Quantification of the SBEM signal relative to the GAPDH signal was performed as described in "Materials and Methods." No correlation was found between SBEM expression and tumor characteristics such as ER (n = 54; Spearman r = -0.01, P = 0.89) and PR (n = 54; Spearman r = -0.03, P = 0.77) levels or tumor grade (n = 44; Spearman r = -0.06, P = 0.68). Interestingly, however, the SBEM signal correlated positively with mammaglobin-1 expression (n = 54; Spearman r = 0.340, P = 0.011). Subgroup comparison of SBEM and mammaglobin-1 expression confirmed our previous observation9
that mammaglobin-1 expression is higher in ER-positive and low-grade tumors (Table 1)
. Interestingly, although not statistically significant (P = 0.09), higher SBEM expression was found in lymph node-positive compared with node-negative tumors. Also of interest is the fact that the SBEM:mammaglobin-1 ratio is significantly (n = 46; Mann-Whitney, P = 0.04) higher in these lymph node-positive tumors.
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SBEM mRNA Is Expressed in Mammary Epithelial Tumor Cells in Vivo.
To further establish whether SBEM was expressed by mammary epithelial cells in vivo, paraffin breast tumor tissue sections corresponding to a case shown to strongly express SBEM mRNA by RT-PCR were studied by in situ hybridization. No signal was detectable when using a sense probe (Fig. 3A)
. In contrast, a signal was observed in epithelial tumor cells when using an antisense probe (Fig. 3B)
. SBEM mRNA was not detected in stromal or inflammatory cells in any of the sections studied.
| Discussion |
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Among the primary breast tumors examined in this study (representing mostly invasive ductal carcinoma), SBEM mRNA was observed by RT-PCR analysis in the majority (>90%) of cases. Despite a significant overall correlation between the expression of SBEM and mammaglobin-1 mRNA, a significantly higher SBEM:mammaglobin-1 ratio was observed in primary tumors associated with positive axillary lymph nodes as compared with node-negative tumors. This was mostly attributable to a trend toward higher SBEM expression in node-positive tumors. Although further analysis of a larger number of tumors will be required to confirm these observations, this may suggest differences in the biology of these tumors and also a possible role of SBEM and mammaglobin-1 in the mechanisms involved in tumor metastasis. Our findings indicate, however, that SBEM expression is a common feature of breast cancer and can furthermore serve as a useful marker for breast nodal metastasis, both for detection of micrometastatic cells within lymph nodes as well as in the differential diagnosis of the primary origin of an unknown metastasis. This potential is enhanced by the conserved SBEM expression in high grade and ER/PR-negative tumors that are most likely to metastasize.
The potential diagnostic relevance of SBEM is also increased by its predicted biochemical structure. The SBEM cDNA sequence codes for a 90-amino acid polypeptide that contains a distinctive tandem repeat, rich in alanine and threonine residues, that represents a probable target for O-glycosylation. Consistent with such posttranslational modification is the presence of a well-defined signal peptide, leading us to predict that SBEM is likely to be processed at the apical surface of luminal epithelial cells and to be secreted into the alveolar or ductal lumen. Further study is needed to ascertain whether higher SBEM expression occurs in association with tumors.
Secreted (or transmembrane) proteins that contain internally repeated, densely glycosylated neutral core motifs such as this are characteristic of mucins, which are typically expressed by the surface epithelium of secretory mucosae and by exocrine glands (14 , 15) . The role of mucins is primarily one of hydrating and lubricating epithelial linings, although several mucins have been implicated in modulating both cell adhesion and growth factor signaling (18 , 19) . Furthermore, mucins have a well-established link to cancer, best illustrated by the product of the MUC1 gene. MUC1 is overexpressed in a variety of epithelial tumors including breast cancer and gives rise to several well-characterized tumor antigens including CA15.3 and CA27.29 (20 , 21) . Combined with the loss of cell polarity and changes in glycosylation patterns observed in transformed epithelial cells, overexpression of MUC1 results in the appearance of mucin-derived tumor antigens in the sera of cancer patients that are not seen in normal controls (14 , 22) . We hypothesize that a similar situation may hold for SBEM expression in the human mammary epithelium and in human breast tumors. However, MUC1 displays relatively broad expression among epithelial tissues including the colon, breast, pancreas, ovary, prostate, tracheobronchial tree, stomach, and uterus. For this reason, MUC1-derived tumor antigens have relatively poor specificity for individual tumor types, and their clinical utility is limited to monitoring the efficacy of cancer therapy and warning of tumor relapse or malignant spread (21, 22, 23) .
Parallels between SBEM and known epithelial mucins such as MUC1, together with its more narrowly restricted pattern of expression, suggest that this novel gene represents an attractive candidate for a breast biomarker with potential for cancer diagnostics, as well as being a possible future target for the development of a breast tumor vaccine. Moreover, the absence of SBEM expression in normal lymph node tissue suggests that this gene could also be used to detect breast micrometastases in axillary lymph nodes.
| FOOTNOTES |
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1 Supported by R21 CA094943-01 (to R. J. M.), NSERC (to Y. M.), and BC000577 (to E. L.). ![]()
2 These authors contributed equally to this work. ![]()
3 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1101. Phone: (517) 355-6475, extension 1285; Fax: (517) 355-5125; E-mail: miksicek{at}msu.edu ![]()
4 The abbreviations used are: EST, expressed sequence tag; SBEM, small breast epithelial mucin; HMEC, human mammary epithelial cell; ER, estrogen receptor-
; PR, progesterone receptor; RT-PCR, reverse transcription-PCR; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase; MUC1, mucin 1. ![]()
5 Internet address: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/UniGene/. UniGene is a system for automatically partitioning GenBank sequences, including ESTs, into a nonredundant set of gene-oriented clusters. ![]()
6 Internet address: http://cgap.nci.nih.gov/CGAP/Tissues/xProfiler. ![]()
7 Internet address: http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/SignalP/. ![]()
8 Internet address: http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/NetOGlyc/. ![]()
9 E. Leygue, L. C. Murphy, and P. H. Watson, unpublished results. ![]()
Received 11/ 8/01. Accepted 3/28/02.
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