Alahari Lab research discovers new targets for treatment of invasive breast cancer
LSUHSC research discovers new targets for treatment of invasive breast cancer
New Orleans, LA - Research led by Suresh Alahari, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has shown for the first time that a tiny piece of RNA appears to play a major role in the development of invasive breast cancer and identified a gene that appears to inhibit invasive breast cancer. The research is published in the August 21, 2009 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
The LSUHSC researchers are the first to demonstrate that miR-27b, a novel microRNA, not only inactivates the ST14 gene which they found suppresses the growth of breast tumor cells, but also that miR-27b stimulates the breast cancer to invade other cells.
MicroRNAs are a new class of small, single-stranded RNA molecules which play an important regulatory role in cell biology. They bind to target genes and decrease their function. MicroRNAs may act as oncogenes (a gene that contributes to cancer development) or tumor suppressors.
In this study working with a line of human breast cancer cells, Dr. Alahari's team found that aggressively invasive breast tumor cells contain a large quantity of miR-27b molecules, while normal cells do not. Further analysis revealed that miR-27b increases during cancer progression, in direct proportion to the decrease in function of the ST14 gene. They found that miR-27b promotes cell growth and cell invasion, suggesting that miR-27b acts as a breast cancer oncogene. They also found that ST14 inhibits both cell growth and cell invasion, suggesting that ST14 is a breast cancer tumor suppressor gene and that it may also serve as a marker for the early detection of breast cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the US during 2009; about 1,910 new cases are expected in men. Excluding cancers of the skin, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. An estimated 40,610 breast cancer deaths (40,170 women, 440 men) are expected in 2009. Breast cancer ranks second as a cause of cancer death in women (after lung cancer).
"We are in the process of confirming these results and these studies will reveal whether ST14 can reduce breast tumor growth in animals," notes Dr. Alahari, who is also a member of the LSUHSC Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center. "Blocking the miR-27b/ST14 interaction or rescuing ST14 function may be an effective therapeutic approach to advance breast cancer treatment."
This study was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Louisiana Board of Regents, and the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium.
LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's academic health leader, LSUHSC comprises a School of Medicine, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSUHSC faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSUHSC research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact, LSUHSC faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu and
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http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-08/lsuh-lrd081909.php
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/d?asid=20090819.122116
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New Targets For Treatment Of Invasive Breast Cancer Discovered
ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2009) - Research led by Suresh Alahari, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has shown for the first time that a tiny piece of RNA appears to play a major role in the development of invasive breast cancer and identified a gene that appears to inhibit invasive breast cancer. The research is published in the August 21, 2009 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
The LSUHSC researchers are the first to demonstrate that miR-27b, a novel microRNA, not only inactivates the ST14 gene which they found suppresses the growth of breast tumor cells, but also that miR-27b stimulates the breast cancer to invade other cells.
MicroRNAs are a new class of small, single-stranded RNA molecules which play an important regulatory role in cell biology. They bind to target genes and decrease their function. MicroRNAs may act as oncogenes (a gene that contributes to cancer development) or tumor suppressors.
In this study working with a line of human breast cancer cells, Dr. Alahari's team found that aggressively invasive breast tumor cells contain a large quantity of miR-27b molecules, while normal cells do not. Further analysis revealed that miR-27b increases during cancer progression, in direct proportion to the decrease in function of the ST14 gene. They found that miR-27b promotes cell growth and cell invasion, suggesting that miR-27b acts as a breast cancer oncogene. They also found that ST14 inhibits both cell growth and cell invasion, suggesting that ST14 is a breast cancer tumor suppressor gene and that it may also serve as a marker for the early detection of breast cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the US during 2009; about 1,910 new cases are expected in men. Excluding cancers of the skin, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. An estimated 40,610 breast cancer deaths (40,170 women, 440 men) are expected in 2009. Breast cancer ranks second as a cause of cancer death in women (after lung cancer).
"We are in the process of confirming these results and these studies will reveal whether ST14 can reduce breast tumor growth in animals," notes Dr. Alahari, who is also a member of the LSUHSC Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center. "Blocking the miR-27b/ST14 interaction or rescuing ST14 function may be an effective therapeutic approach to advance breast cancer treatment."
This study was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Louisiana Board of Regents, and the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium.
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Aug 20 2009, 9:36 AM EST
Scientists Discover Disease Promoter and Tumor Suppressor Related to Breast Cancer
GEN News Highlights
Researchers at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center have identified an miRNA that appears to play a role in the development of invasive breast cancer and a gene that seems to inhibit the disease. They demonstrated that miR-27b not only inactivates the ST14 gene, which they found suppresses the growth of breast tumor cells, but also that it stimulates the cancer to invade other cells. Results will appear August 21 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
The team was working with a line of human breast cancer cells when they realized that aggressively invasive breast tumor cells contained a large quantity of miR-27b molecules, while normal cells do not. Further research showed that miR-27b increases during cancer progression in direct proportion to the decrease in function of the ST14 gene. The investigators found that miR-27b promotes cell growth and cell invasion. They also noted that ST14 inhibits both cell growth and cell invasion.
"We are in the process of confirming these results and these studies will reveal whether ST14 can reduce breast tumor growth in animals," notes Suresh Alahari, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. "Blocking the miR-27b/ST14 interaction or rescuing ST14 function may be an effective therapeutic approach to advance breast cancer treatment."
http://www.genengnews.com/news/bnitem.aspx?name=60917397
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From the Breast Cancer Network:
The BCN (BreastCancer.Net) News ran a summary of your recent work LSUHSC research discovers new targets for treatment of invasive breast cancer in today's issue, and provided our nearly 20,000 readers with a link by which to read your work online.