NRG1 is frequently silenced by methylation in breast cancers and is a strong candidate for the 8p tumour suppressor gene

doi:10.1186/bcr1895

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Background
Methods and r...
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References

Breast Cancer Research

Volume 10
Suppl 2

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Chua YL
Ito Y
Pole JCM
Chin SF
Ellis IO
Caldas C
O'Hare MJ
Murrell AM
Edwards PAW

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This article is part of the supplement: Breast Cancer Research 2008 .

Poster presentation

NRG1 is frequently silenced by methylation in breast cancers and is a strong candidate for the 8p tumour suppressor gene

Y-L Chua¹, Y Ito², JCM Pole¹, S-F Chin², IO Ellis³, C Caldas², MJ O'Hare⁴, AM Murrell² and PAW Edwards¹

¹Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, Cambridge, UK

²CR-UK Cambridge Research Institute, Cambridge, UK

³Department of Pathology, University of Nottingham, UK

⁴Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Breast Cancer Laboratory, University College, London, UK

from Breast Cancer Research 2008
London, UK. 13 May 2008

Breast Cancer Research 2008, 10(Suppl 2):P11doi:10.1186/bcr1895

The electronic version of this abstract is the complete one and can be found online at: http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/10/S2/P11

Published:

13 May 2008

Background

It has long been suspected that there is an important breast cancer tumour suppressor gene on the short arm of chromosome 8, 8p, and our array CGH data suggest that it may be close to NRG1 [1]. NRG1 encodes growth factors that bind to tyrosine kinases ErbB3 and ErbB4, and can both stimulate cell proliferation and apoptosis. NRG1 is also quite frequently broken by chromosome translocations [2].

Methods and results

By quantitiative PCR, NRG1 expression was repressed or abolished in many breast cancer cell lines and tumours as compared with normal breast. Methylation analysis by sequencing or pyrosequencing bisulphite-treated DNA showed striking DNA methylation at a CpG island in NRG1, which is correlated with an absence of NRG1 transcripts. Treatment of cancer cell lines with 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine reactivated the expression of NRG1 by 7 to 100 times. NRG1 was also methylated in tumour tissue samples while it was not in uncultured normal breast epithelium. Knocking down NRG1 expression by siRNA led to an increase in net cell proliferation.

Conclusion

NRG1 could be the 8p tumour suppressor gene. It is located in the right place. It is silenced by methylation or other mechanisms in many breast cancer cell lines and tumours. Functionally, NRG1 expression is antiproliferative – shown both by our siRNA experiments and older work that showed expression to be proapoptotic to breast cancer cell line MCF7 [3].

Acknowledgements

Supported by Breast Cancer Campaign and also Cancer Research UK and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

References

Pole JC, Courtay-Cahen C, Garcia MJ, Blood KA, Cooke SL, Alsop AE, Tse DM, Caldas C, Edwards PA: High-resolution analysis of chromosome rearrangements on 8p in breast, colon and pancreatic cancer reveals a complex pattern of loss, gain and translocation.
Oncogene 2006 , 25:5693-5706. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Huang HE, Chin SF, Ginestier C, Bardou VJ, Adelaide J, Iyer NG, Garcia MJ, Pole JC, Callagy GM, Hewitt SM, Gullick WJ, Jacquemier J, Caldas C, Chaffanet M, Birnbaum D, Edwards PA: A recurrent chromosome breakpoint in breast cancer at the NRG1/neuregulin 1/heregulin gene.
Cancer Res 2004 , 64:6840-6844. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Grimm S, Weinstein EJ, Krane IM, Leder P: Neu differentiation factor (NDF), a dominant oncogene, causes apoptosis in vitro and in vivo.
J Exp Med 1998 , 188:1535-1539. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text

This article is part of the supplement: Breast Cancer Research 2008 .

NRG1 is frequently silenced by methylation in breast cancers and is a strong candidate for the 8p tumour suppressor gene

Background

Methods and results

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

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