Education and Outreach in Physical Sciences in Oncology.

Physical sciences are often overlooked in the field of cancer research. The Physical Sciences in Oncology Initiative was launched to integrate physics, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering with cancer research and clinical oncology through education, outreach, and collaboration. Here, we provide a framework for education and outreach in emerging transdisciplinary fields.

Methylation of TFPI-2 gene is not the sole cause of its silencing.

TFPI-2 (tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2) is a serine protease inhibitor that may suppress tumor cell invasion and metastasis. TFPI-2 expression is often lost in cells derived from tumors of diverse organs. We have examined whether aberrant hypermethylation of the 5' end of the TFPI-2 gene is associated with its loss of expression. After 5-azacytidine treatment of three cell lines lacking TFPI-2 expression (HT1080 fibrosarcoma cells, MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells, and LNCaP prostate carcinoma cells), TFPI-2 transcripts could be detected by RT-PCR. In these three cell lines, methylation of the 5' end of the TFPI-2 gene was detected, while two prostate carcinoma cell lines in which the TFPI-2 gene was expressed, PC-3 and DU-145, showed no methylation. However, all the three cell lines which lacked TFPI-2 expression also contained unmethylated TFPI-2 alleles. Furthermore, a transiently transfected TFPI-2 promoter was non-functional in the three cell lines, but function was attained following treatment with 5-azacytidine. Our results indicate that while methylation of the TFPI-2 gene is associated with its silencing, it is not the sole cause, and we suggest that one or more components of pathways regulating TFPI-2 expression have also undergone methylation-associated silencing in these cell lines.