乳腺癌相关转移基因的研究进展

目的 综述肿瘤转移基因在乳腺癌中的研究进展.方法 采用文献回顾的方法,对目前国内外肿瘤转移基因在乳腺癌中的研究状况加以分析与综述.结果 肿瘤转移基因与乳腺癌的发生、转移及预后相关.结论 对肿瘤转移基因的深入研究有助于进一步深化对乳腺癌生物学行为的认识,为肿瘤转移的分子诊断和基因治疗提供新的思路.     

修正肿瘤相关基因的基因疗法之研究进展

肿瘤是目前威胁人类健康和生命的最严重的疾病之一,基因疗法目前被认为是人类攻克癌症非常有希望的途径.本文对肿瘤基因治疗中的1种方法,修正肿瘤相关基因的基因疗法进行一综述,其中包括转移抑癌基因的基因疗法和转移原癌基因或细胞增殖相关基因的反义基因的基因疗法,并提出对多种基因的联合治疗方法是肿瘤基因治疗发展的一个重要方向.     

KAI1基因表达与肿瘤转移的抑制

就KAI1基因的发现、定位及作用机制：KAI1基因在肿瘤转移过程中的抑制作用；KAI1基因的表达与肿瘤预后之间的关系的意义等方面的研究结果作一综述。     

RNA干扰在肿瘤转移研究中的应用

RNA干扰是与特定基因同源互补的双链RNA在体内以序列特异的方式引发靶基因的mRNA降解,从而导致转录后基因沉默的过程。由于其在基因沉默中的高度特异性和有效性,在基因功能和基因药物的研究中有很大潜力。综述了RNA干扰可能的分子机制、分子生物特性和其在肿瘤特别是肿瘤转移中的应用。     

乳腺癌患者外周血中MnSOD基因表达检测及其临床意义的研究

目的探讨锰超氧化物歧化酶(manganese superoxide dismutase,MnSOD)在乳腺癌患者和正常人外周血中的表达差异及其临床意义.方法采用实时荧光定量PCR方法检测218例乳腺癌患者和77例正常女性外周血中MnSOD基因表达水平,并进行分析.结果乳腺癌患者外周血中MnSOD基因表达水平为4.38±0.74,正常女性外周血中MnSOD基因表达水平为4.16±0.64,P0.001,有统计学意义.淋巴转移患者组和临床早期患者组与正常女性组比较,P0.001.结论淋巴转移和临床早期乳腺癌患者外周血中MnSOD基因表达水平显著低于正常女性,提示MnSOD的低表达与肿瘤的发生和发展有关.应用荧光定量PCR方法检测外周血MnSOD基因水平对监测乳腺癌有一定意义.     

RAB5A在乳腺癌中的表达及转移相关性分析

目的 探讨RAB5A在乳腺癌转移中的作用与机制,以期为乳腺癌的基因治疗及研究提供新的靶点。方法 检测不同分化程度的乳腺癌组织标本中RAB5A蛋白的表达情况;应用FAM标记的RAB5A反义寡核苷酸,体外转染高转移度的乳腺癌细胞,观察肿瘤细胞的转移相关指标的变化。结果 乳腺癌组织中大多呈现不同程度RAB5A的表达,差异有显著性意义（P<0.05）,在浸润导管癌中RAB5A的表达程度与其他组织类分型差异有显著性意义（P<0.05）,肿瘤组织不同分化程度染色显示乳腺癌分化程度越低（P<0.05）,在细胞基底膜侵袭和运动实验中RAB5A反义核酸封闭后穿膜细胞数均明显减少。结论 RAB5A是一个可能与乳腺癌发生、转移相关的基因,并且还可能与它们的分化程度有关。RAB5A在人乳腺癌细胞的侵袭及转移特性的形成中具有重要的作用,RAB5A的反义分子能够有效地阻断该基因表达的翻译过程。     

c-Myc蛋白对三阴性乳腺癌增殖迁移的影响

目的:研究c-Myc蛋白对三阴性乳腺癌增殖迁移的影响.方法:应用shRNA进行慢病毒包装,构建低表达稳转株,再用westernblot验证敲低效果.利用MTT验证c-Myc蛋白对三阴性乳腺癌增殖的作用;应用划痕实验、Transwell Assay证明c-Myc蛋白在肿瘤转移中的影响.结果:在myc基因敲低后,c-Myc蛋白表达量明显降低,增殖能力明显下降,迁移能力变弱.结论:c-Myc蛋白作为原癌基因的翻译产物对三阴性乳腺癌的增殖、迁移具有促进作用.     

低氧条件下巨噬细胞分泌CCL22促进三阴乳腺癌转移

三阴乳腺癌(Triple Negative Breast Cancer, TNBC)是乳腺癌中恶性程度最高的一种亚型，表现为很高的转移潜能。巨噬细胞，即肿瘤相关巨噬细胞(Tumor-Associated Macrophages, TAM)，在促进TNBC转移中起了重要作用。乳腺癌作为一种实体肿瘤，往往处于缺氧环境中。低氧环境能够促进癌细胞的转移，然而低氧环境中巨噬细胞在促进肿瘤转移中的作用仍然不清楚。在该研究中，THP1细胞被诱导成TAM，经过缺氧培养后，通过Transwell实验检测其促进三阴乳腺癌细胞BT-549和MDA-MB-231的细胞迁移能力；通过尾静脉注射，将MDA-MB-231细胞移植于祼鼠体内，CT扫描，分析了TAM促进TNBC细胞的器官转移能力；通过ELISA实验检测低氧对TAM分泌的肿瘤转移相关因子的影响，通过GDSC在线软件分析了CCL22受体CCR4和其他CCR在乳腺癌组织与正常组织中表达的差异。结果表明低氧条件下巨噬细胞通过分泌CCL22的表达来促进三阴乳腺癌细胞迁移:经过缺氧培养后的TAM显著增强了TNBC细胞迁移能力，以及促进癌细胞在体内向肺转移；低氧诱导TAM分泌CCL22；CCL22受体CCR4在乳腺癌组织中的表达显著高于在正常组织中的。     

TRAF3的表达与乳腺癌侵袭转移的关系

TRAF是一种参与多条信号通路的重要连接蛋白,包含7种亚型.其中TRAF3在肿瘤中的作用存在争议.实验旨在探讨TRAF3在乳腺癌中的表达差异.方法:采用免疫组化及westernblot方法检测TRAF3在乳腺癌中的表达情况以及和临床病理因素的关系.结果:TRAF3表达与组织学分型有关(P0.01);TRAF3表达与淋巴结有无转移有关(P0.05);并且乳腺癌TRAF3阳性率与临床TNM分期有关(P0.05).结论:TRAF3分子可能具有抑制乳腺癌侵袭与转移的作用,研究其信号转导机制有助于为乳腺癌提供新的治疗靶点.     

PLoS Genetics：一种乳腺癌干细胞相关微小RNA

来自复旦大学附属肿瘤医院,复旦大学乳腺癌研究所的研究人员发现了一种乳腺癌干细胞相关小RNA,与肿瘤恶性转化相关基因在乳腺癌遗传易感性中的关键作用,从而为临床寻找乳腺癌高危女性提供了参考,也为深入乳腺癌提供了遗传学基础.     

人类乳腺癌的分子遗传学研究进展

乳腺癌发病机制非常复杂，其中涉及多种基因异常，包括易感基因、癌基因、抑癌基因等，对乳腺癌发生发展中这些基因异常的认识，是乳腺癌防治的关键。我们对近年来乳腺癌发病过程中分子遗传学的研究进展及乳腺癌相关基因的研究现状进行综述。     

Mesenchymal stem cells within tumour stroma promote breast cancer metastasis

Mesenchymal stem cells have been recently described to localize to breast carcinomas, where they integrate into the tumour-associated stroma. However, the involvement of mesenchymal stem cells (or their derivatives) in tumour pathophysiology has not been addressed. Here, we demonstrate that bone-marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells, when mixed with otherwise weakly metastatic human breast carcinoma cells, cause the cancer cells to increase their metastatic potency greatly when this cell mixture is introduced into a subcutaneous site and allowed to form a tumour xenograft. The breast cancer cells stimulate de novo secretion of the chemokine CCL5 (also called RANTES) from mesenchymal stem cells, which then acts in a paracrine fashion on the cancer cells to enhance their motility, invasion and metastasis. This enhanced metastatic ability is reversible and is dependent on CCL5 signalling through the chemokine receptor CCR5. Collectively, these data demonstrate that the tumour microenvironment facilitates metastatic spread by eliciting reversible changes in the phenotype of cancer cells.     

A microRNA regulon that mediates endothelial recruitment and metastasis by cancer cells

Metastatic progression of cancer is a complex and clinically daunting process. We previously identified a set of human microRNAs (miRNAs) that robustly suppress breast cancer metastasis to lung and bone and which display expression levels that predict human metastasis. Although these findings revealed miRNAs as suppressors of cell-autonomous metastatic phenotypes, the roles of non-coding RNAs in non-cell-autonomous cancer progression processes remain unknown. Here we reveal that endogenous miR-126, an miRNA silenced in a variety of common human cancers, non-cell-autonomously regulates endothelial cell recruitment to metastatic breast cancer cells, in vitro and in vivo. It suppresses metastatic endothelial recruitment, metastatic angiogenesis and metastatic colonization through coordinate targeting of IGFBP2, PITPNC1 and MERTK--novel pro-angiogenic genes and biomarkers of human metastasis. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) secreted by metastatic cells recruits endothelia by modulating IGF1-mediated activation of the IGF type-I receptor on endothelial cells; whereas c-Mer tyrosine kinase (MERTK) receptor cleaved from metastatic cells promotes endothelial recruitment by competitively antagonizing the binding of its ligand GAS6 to endothelial MERTK receptors. Co-injection of endothelial cells with breast cancer cells non-cell-autonomously rescues their miR-126-induced metastatic defect, revealing a novel and important role for endothelial interactions in metastatic initiation. Through loss-of-function and epistasis experiments, we delineate an miRNA regulatory network's individual components as novel and cell-extrinsic regulators of endothelial recruitment, angiogenesis and metastatic colonization. We also identify the IGFBP2/IGF1/IGF1R and GAS6/MERTK signalling pathways as regulators of cancer-mediated endothelial recruitment. Our work further reveals endothelial recruitment and endothelial interactions in the tumour microenvironment to be critical features of metastatic breast cancer.     

Reduced Nm23/Awd protein in tumour metastasis and aberrant Drosophila development

Tumour metastasis is the principal cause of death for cancer patients. We have identified the nm23 gene, for which RNA levels are reduced in tumour cells of high metastatic potential. In this report we identify the cytoplasmic and nuclear Nm23 protein, and show that it also is differentially expressed in metastatic tumour cells. We also find that the human Nm23 protein has sequence homology over the entire translated region with a recently described developmentally regulated protein in Drosophila, encoded by the abnormal wing discs (awd) gene. Mutations in awd cause abnormal tissue morphology and necrosis and widespread aberrant differentiation in Drosophila, analogous to changes in malignant progression. The metastatic state may therefore be determined by the loss of genes such as nm23/awd which normally regulate development.     

CCL2 recruits inflammatory monocytes to facilitate breast-tumour metastasis

Macrophages, which are abundant in the tumour microenvironment, enhance malignancy. At metastatic sites, a distinct population of metastasis-associated macrophages promotes the extravasation, seeding and persistent growth of tumour cells. Here we define the origin of these macrophages by showing that Gr1-positive inflammatory monocytes are preferentially recruited to pulmonary metastases but not to primary mammary tumours in mice. This process also occurs for human inflammatory monocytes in pulmonary metastases of human breast cancer cells. The recruitment of these inflammatory monocytes, which express CCR2 (the receptor for chemokine CCL2), as well as the subsequent recruitment of metastasis-associated macrophages and their interaction with metastasizing tumour cells, is dependent on CCL2 synthesized by both the tumour and the stroma. Inhibition of CCL2-CCR2 signalling blocks the recruitment of inflammatory monocytes, inhibits metastasis in vivo and prolongs the survival of tumour-bearing mice. Depletion of tumour-cell-derived CCL2 also inhibits metastatic seeding. Inflammatory monocytes promote the extravasation of tumour cells in a process that requires monocyte-derived vascular endothelial growth factor. CCL2 expression and macrophage infiltration are correlated with poor prognosis and metastatic disease in human breast cancer. Our data provide the mechanistic link between these two clinical associations and indicate new therapeutic targets for treating metastatic breast cancer.     

Lysyl oxidase is essential for hypoxia-induced metastasis

Metastasis is a multistep process responsible for most cancer deaths, and it can be influenced by both the immediate microenvironment (cell-cell or cell-matrix interactions) and the extended tumour microenvironment (for example vascularization). Hypoxia (low oxygen) is clinically associated with metastasis and poor patient outcome, although the underlying processes remain unclear. Microarray studies have shown the expression of lysyl oxidase (LOX) to be elevated in hypoxic human tumour cells. Paradoxically, LOX expression is associated with both tumour suppression and tumour progression, and its role in tumorigenesis seems dependent on cellular location, cell type and transformation status. Here we show that LOX expression is regulated by hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) and is associated with hypoxia in human breast and head and neck tumours. Patients with high LOX-expressing tumours have poor distant metastasis-free and overall survivals. Inhibition of LOX eliminates metastasis in mice with orthotopically grown breast cancer tumours. Mechanistically, secreted LOX is responsible for the invasive properties of hypoxic human cancer cells through focal adhesion kinase activity and cell to matrix adhesion. Furthermore, LOX may be required to create a niche permissive for metastatic growth. Our findings indicate that LOX is essential for hypoxia-induced metastasis and is a good therapeutic target for preventing and treating metastases.     

Genomic analysis of metastasis reveals an essential role for RhoC

The most damaging change during cancer progression is the switch from a locally growing tumour to a metastatic killer. This switch is believed to involve numerous alterations that allow tumour cells to complete the complex series of events needed for metastasis. Relatively few genes have been implicated in these events. Here we use an in vivo selection scheme to select highly metastatic melanoma cells. By analysing these cells on DNA arrays, we define a pattern of gene expression that correlates with progression to a metastatic phenotype. In particular, we show enhanced expression of several genes involved in extracellular matrix assembly and of a second set of genes that regulate, either directly or indirectly, the actin-based cytoskeleton. One of these, the small GTPase RhoC, enhances metastasis when overexpressed, whereas a dominant-negative Rho inhibits metastasis. Analysis of the phenotype of cells expressing dominant-negative Rho or RhoC indicates that RhoC is important in tumour cell invasion. The genomic approach allows us to identify families of genes involved in a process, not just single genes, and can indicate which molecular and cellular events might be important in complex biological processes such as metastasis.