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Query: UMLS:C0006142 (breast cancer)
 160,383 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Expression of the c-erbB-2 (neu, HER-2) oncogene is found to be subjected to hormonal and developmental regulation in normal as well as neoplastic mammary cells. We have previously reported that estrogens inhibit c-erbB-2 expression at both the mRNA and protein level in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, but not in ER-negative, breast cancer cell lines. Reversion of c-erbB-2 inhibition is seen with tamoxifen. The effect on c-erbB-2 expression of several other hormones and factors, which influence mammary cell growth and differentiation, has been studied. Our observations indicate that, in normal and neoplastic mammary cells, c-erbB-2 expression is inversely related to cell proliferation. While estrogens, anti-estrogens and cAMP clearly regulate c-erbB-2 mRNA levels, epidermal growth factor dramatically decreases the c-erbB-2 protein without affecting the level of c-erbB-2 mRNA. Therefore, different signals converging in terms of cell proliferation regulate c-erbB-2 expression by different molecular mechanisms.
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PMID:Hormonal regulation of c-erbB-2 oncogene expression in breast cancer cells. 135 14

The neu/erbB-2 protooncogene encodes a transmembrane tyrosine kinase homologous to receptors for polypeptide growth factors. The oncogenic potential of the presumed receptor is released through multiple genetic mechanisms including a point mutation, truncation of non-catalytic sequences and overexpression. The latter mechanism appears to be relevant to human cancers as elevated expression of the neu/erbB-2 gene is frequently observed in solid tumors of various adenocarcinomas. It is therefore conceivable that strategies aimed at the biochemical mechanism of action of the neu/erbB-2 tyrosine kinase may contribute to the treatment of certain human cancers. To this aim we undertook a multiple research approach consisting of the following directions: (i) The neu/erbB-2 ligand--a systematic screening of potential biological sources of the hypothetical hormone molecule, that presumably binds to the neu/erbB-2 protein, resulted in detection of a candidate activity in the medium of certain cultured transformed cells. Partial purification indicated that the factor is a 30-35 kDa glycoprotein. Further studies revealed several biochemical characteristics of the factor that may be helpful for complete purification and structural analysis of this novel hormone. (ii) Signal transduction by neu/erbB-2--using a chimeric receptor approach and various mutants we found that all the oncogenic forms of the neu/erbB-2 are constitutively coupled, both physically and functionally, to a multi-protein complex of signaling molecules. The latter includes the phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C gamma and a phosphatidylinositol kinase. Thus, the metabolism of inositol lipids is probably a major biochemical pathway utilized by the neu/erbB-2 tyrosine kinase. (iii) Tumor inhibitory antibodies--we generated a panel of monoclonal antibodies to the presumed receptor. Surprisingly, some antibodies almost completely inhibited the growth of tumor cells in athymic mice, whereas one antibody significantly accelerated the rate of tumor growth in animals. Interestingly, the inhibitory antibodies conferred a mature phenotype to cultured breast cancer cells, implicating terminal differentiation in tumor retardation.
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PMID:Signal transduction by the neu/erbB-2 receptor: a potential target for anti-tumor therapy. 135 18

Both neu gene overexpression and loss of estrogen receptor (ER) expression have been found to correlate with a poor prognosis in human breast cancer. Studies of breast tumor specimens have suggested that these two factors are not independent, leading us to hypothesize that there is a causal relationship between loss of ER and overexpression of neu. In this report, we confirm that ER can negatively regulate the expression of the neu gene protein product, p185neu, in two ER positive but not an ER negative breast cancer cell line(s). We have produced sublines which stably express human ER from a previously ER negative human breast cancer cell line. We demonstrate that the expression of ER in these cell lines is sufficient to confer the ability to respond to estradiol by down-regulating neu expression at both the protein and RNA levels. Utilizing neu promoter-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase constructs in transient cotransfection assays, we have also shown that this regulation occurs at the transcriptional level and requires the presence of both ER and estradiol. Furthermore, utilizing promoter deletion constructs, we provide evidence that a 140-base pair region of the neu promoter is required for this transcriptional regulation. When placed in a heterologous promoter, this 140-base pair region allows transcriptional repression by estradiol stimulated ER; thus, it represents an estrogen responsive region within the neu promoter. Finally, we have used gel mobility shift analysis to demonstrate an alteration in the nuclear factor(s) binding to this promoter region in estradiol stimulated versus estradiol deprived breast cancer cells. This study provides the first evidence that the inverse clinical correlation between neu and ER expression may be due to transcriptional repression of neu by estradiol stimulated ER.
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PMID:Transcriptional repression of the neu protooncogene by estrogen stimulated estrogen receptor. 135 36

c-erbB2/neu is a transforming oncogene that encodes a 185-kDa transmembrane glycoprotein. In many but not all studies, amplification and/or overexpression of the human c-erbB2/neu oncogene has been correlated with poor prognosis and the number of lymph node metastases in node-positive breast cancer patients. We have shown that expression of the activated rat c-erbB2/neu oncogene in mouse embryo fibroblast 3T3 cells is sufficient to induce experimental metastases in nude mice. Important steps in the metastatic event are tumor cell adhesion to endothelial cells and invasion of basement membranes. Therefore, we further examined the ability of c-erbB2/neu oncogene-transformed 3T3 cells to adhere to microvessel endothelial cells and secrete basement membrane-degradative enzymes. The c-erbB2/neu oncogene-transformed 3T3 cells were shown to be more adherent and have higher gelatinase activities. Since we had previously shown that the adenovirus 5 E1A gene product can suppress c-erbB2/neu-induced transformation of 3T3 cells, we examined the possibility that E1A can abrogate the metastatic properties of c-erbB2/neu-transformed 3T3 cells. We found that introduction of the E1A gene into c-erbB2/neu-transformed 3T3 cells reduced the formation of experimental metastatic tumors and inhibited metastasis-associated properties, such as adhesion to microvessel endothelial cells, migration through a layer of reconstituted basement membrane (Matrigel) and secretion of basement membrane-degradative enzymes. The results indicate that the mechanism by which the c-erbB2/neu gene induces higher metastatic potential is to promote adhesion and invasion steps of the metastatic cascade. The E1A gene, which functions by inhibiting these steps, is thus a suppressor gene for c-erbB2/neu-induced experimental metastasis.
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PMID:Mechanisms of c-erbB2/neu oncogene-induced metastasis and repression of metastatic properties by adenovirus 5 E1A gene products. 135 95

Overexpression and amplification of the neu (c-erbB2, ERBB2) protooncogene have been implicated in the development of aggressive human breast cancer. To directly assess the effect of mammary gland-specific expression of the neu protooncogene, transgenic mice carrying unactivated neu under the transcriptional control of the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter/enhancer were established. By contrast to the rapid tumor progression observed in several transgenic strains carrying the activated neu transgene, expression of unactivated neu in the mammary epithelium resulted in the development of focal mammary tumors after long latency. The majority of the mammary tumors analyzed expressed elevated levels of neu-encoded mRNA and protein. Overexpression of neu in the mammary tumors was also associated with elevated neu intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity and the de novo tyrosine phosphorylation of several cellular proteins. Interestingly, many of the tumor-bearing transgenic mice developed secondary metastatic tumors in the lung. These observations suggest that overexpression of the unactivated neu protein can induce metastatic disease after long latency.
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PMID:Expression of the neu protooncogene in the mammary epithelium of transgenic mice induces metastatic disease. 135 41

A number of primary human breast carcinomas exhibit amplification of the chromosome 11 region containing the int-2/fgf-3 proto-oncogene, and progression of breast cancer has been correlated with int-2 amplification or with certain restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of the int-2 gene. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we obtained the int-2 coding sequences from six primary tumors, four of which exhibited amplification of the int-2 gene and one of which exhibited amplification of the neu gene. The majority of these tumors (five of six) were aggressive, as judged by their early recurrence, metastasis, or both. Nucleotide sequencing of PCR products revealed that previously described BamHI and PstI RFLPs of the int-2 gene, as well as a new polymorphism at position 9154, were located within the intron between the second and third exons. A seventh tumor was used to localize one of the PstI RFLPs 5 bp from the splice-acceptor site of the third exon. However, none of the tumor DNAs analyzed showed differences in the int-2 protein coding regions when compared with normal placenta DNA. These results imply that aggressive human breast cancers encode an unaltered form of the int-2 protein.
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PMID:Sequence analysis of the int-2/fgf-3 gene in aggressive human breast carcinomas. 136 93

HER-2/neu gene expression, DNA ploidy and proliferation index were studied in 250 cases of breast cancer. Expression of HER-2/neu was determined by using an antibody to the HER-2/neu receptor. Ki-67 antibody was used to determine the proliferation index of the breast cancers, and the Feulgen method was used to assess DNA amounts in the tumor cells. Histochemical staining was quantitated by image analysis. Of the cancers studied, 72 were positive for overexpression of HER-2/neu protein; of these, 62 (86%) possessed near-tetraploid DNA content, and 47 (65%) had more than one G0G1 stem line (polyploid) of DNA distribution. Cells from the cases negative for HER/2-neu overexpression contained DNA amounts that ranged from diploid to varying degrees of aneuploid. A significant difference in the amounts of cellular proliferation in HER-2/neu overexpressing cancers was found between those that expressed the HER-2/neu receptor on their membranes and those that exhibited mainly cytoplasmic receptors.
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PMID:HER-2/neu oncogene expression, DNA ploidy and proliferation index in breast cancer. 136 46

The over-expression of the proto-oncogene HER-2 (c-erbB-2/neu) in ovarian, endometrial and mammary carcinoma is an important indicator for poor prognosis. We have previously shown in 3 out of 4 ovarian carcinoma cell lines an interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-mediated reduction in HER-2 specific protein and RNA levels. The oncogene expression was lowered only in the ovarian carcinoma cell lines but not in 3 IFN-gamma-sensitive human breast cancer cell lines. We extended our observations also to IFN type I, alpha and omega. The expression of the oncogene was measured by both the p185HER-2 ELISA and in selected cases by a living cell radioimmunoassay using the monoclonal antibody (MAb) 4D5 against the extracellular domain. Both IFN types reduced the expression of HER-2 in the ovarian carcinoma cell lines OVCAR-3, HTB-77, 2774 and SKOV-6, and in the SKUT-2 endometrial carcinoma cells. In contrast, SKOV-8 human ovarian carcinoma cells were sensitive for both IFN types regarding proliferation, but only IFN-gamma reduced proto-oncogene expression. In the SKBR-3 human mammary carcinoma cells, neither IFN type had an effect on HER-2 expression. The antibodies 4D5, 7C2, 3E8, and 3H4 which bind to the extracellular domain of p185HER-2 protein specifically inhibited anchorage-independent growth of SKBR-3 and HTB-77 cells. Expression of the oncogene HER-2 is the leading prognostic factor in ovarian cancer. Its modulation might represent a mechanism by which IFNs inhibit cell proliferation.
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PMID:Effects of interferons on the expression of the proto-oncogene HER-2 in human ovarian carcinoma cells. 137 Feb 27

The antigen MUSE11 detected by a monoclonal antibody (MAb) is an adenocarcinoma-associated antigen, while CA15-3 is a representative breast cancer-associated antigen detected by MAbs 115D8 and DF3. MAb MUSE11 showed higher binding activity to a synthetic peptide corresponding to the tandem repeat motif of the mucin core protein than that of MAb DF3, although MAb DF3 also had a significant binding activity indicating that MAbs MUSE11 and DF3 could recognize an identical polypeptide core. The reactivity of MAb DF3 to a breast cancer cell line MRK-neu-1 was completely abolished by neuraminidase treatment whereas that of MAb MUSE11 was partly conserved. The simultaneous measurement of the antigens MUSE11 and CA15-3 in sera from 35 cancer patients demonstrated that the incidence of abnormal serum level of CA15-3 was lower than that of antigen MUSE11. These data suggest that at least a part of the structural basis for the difference between the serum levels of antigen MUSE11 and CA15-3 could be carbohydrate side chains including sialic acids.
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PMID:Circulating tumor-associated antigens detected by monoclonal antibodies against the polypeptide core of mucin--comparison of antigen MUSE11 with CA15-3. 137 32

In order to obtain further information on the biological role of the HER2/neu oncoprotein, 7 new monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were produced against the p185HER2 extracellular domain. These MAbs, together with two others previously produced, were used to investigate the p185HER2 expression in breast carcinomas and compare the recognized antigenic determinants. The 7 reagents (MGR4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10), were shown to define five distinct epitopes. Three of these MAbs (MGR5,7,10), as well as one previously produced (MGR2), recognize the same epitope (Epitope-1) which seems, therefore, to be highly immunogenic for the murine immune system. Epitope-2 recognized by the MGR4 MAb, appears to be closely related to epitope-1 due to a cross inhibition between MGR4 and MGR10, but not MGR2. Epitope-2 is the only one of the 5 also present on the product of the neu oncogene, the rat analogue of the human HER2/neu gene. None of the reagents against epitope-1 and epitope-2 were found to mediate receptor internalization, whereas MGR6 as well as a previously produced MAb (MGR3), both of which define epitope-3 and MGR8 which defines epitope-4, were found to do so. Epitope-4 like the neu-specific peptide recognized by the reference c-neu Ab3 MAb, was detectable on all p185HER2 positive breast cancer, independently from the quantitative content of the oncoprotein, at variance with the other 4 epitopes whose availability on p185HER2 for the relevant MAbs varied with the degree of overexpression. Epitope-5, recognized by the MGR9 MAb, on the contrary to the other epitopes, was prevalently localized at the basal membrane level of the tumor nodule.
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PMID:p185 HER2/neu epitope mapping with murine monoclonal antibodies. 137 73


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