The S100A7-c-Jun activation domain binding protein 1 pathway enhances prosurvival pathways in breast cancer.

S100A7 is among the most highly expressed genes in preinvasive breast cancer, is a marker of poor survival when expressed in invasive disease, and promotes breast tumor progression in experimental models. To explore the mechanism of action, we examined the role of S100A7 in cell survival and found that overexpression of S100A7 in MDA-MB-231 cell lines promotes survival under conditions of anchorage-independent growth. This effect is paralleled by increased activity of nuclear factor-kappaB (3-fold) and phospho-Akt (4-fold), which are known to mediate prosurvival pathways.

The hypoxia-regulated transcription factor DEC1 (Stra13, SHARP-2) and its expression in human tissues and tumours.

DEC1, also known as SHARP-2 or Stra13, is an important molecule in embryonic differentiation and has recently been identified to be strongly inducible by hypoxia. Its distribution in normal human tissues and most tumour types is unknown. In the present study, a polyclonal antiserum to a 10-amino acid peptide from DEC1 has been raised.

Developmental changes in insulin-like growth factor I receptor gene expression in the mouse mammary gland.

The insulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF-IR), which mediates the mitogenic action of IGF-I, has been shown to play an essential role in normal growth and development. However, the precise role of IGF-IR in the growth and differentiation of the mammary gland has not been elucidated. This study examines the profile of the IGF-IR gene and protein expression during normal postnatal mammary gland development in order to gain further insight into the role of the IGF-I/IGF-IR during mammary gland morphogenesis.

Necrosis and hypoxia in invasive breast carcinoma.

To investigate the relation between necrosis and hypoxia in breast cancer we examined the expression of hypoxia-associated markers HIF1, CA IX and GLUT1 by immunohistochemistry in 97 invasive ductal carcinomas. This selected series comprised 48 tumors with extensive necrosis and 49 control tumors without necrosis. Over 90% of necrotic and 30% of non-necrotic tumors expressed at least one hypoxia marker.

Mammographic density is related to stroma and stromal proteoglycan expression.

Background: Mammographic density and certain histological changes in breast tissues are both risk factors for breast cancer. However, the relationship between these factors remains uncertain. Previous studies have focused on the histology of the epithelial changes, even though breast stroma is the major tissue compartment by volume.

Reduced expression of the small leucine-rich proteoglycans, lumican, and decorin is associated with poor outcome in node-negative invasive breast cancer.

Purpose: To examine the prognostic significance of lumican and decorin, two abundant small leucine-rich proteoglycans in breast tissue stroma.

Experimental Design: Lumican and decorin expression was examined in a cohort of 140 invasive breast carcinomas by Western blot analysis. All cases were axillary lymph node-negative and treated by adjuvant endocrine therapy.