Analysis of loss of heterozygosity in 399 premalignant breast lesions at 15 genetic loci.

BACKGROUND: Usual ductal hyperplasia (UDH), atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are risk factors for invasive breast cancer (IBC), suggesting that these lesions may be direct precursors of IBC. To identify genetic changes that may be important in the early development of precursor lesions and their progression to malignant or invasive disease, we examined 399 putative precursors (211 UDH, 51 ADH, 81 non-comedo DCIS, and 56 comedo DCIS) for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 15 polymorphic genetic loci known to exhibit high rates of loss in IBC. We also assessed the sharing of LOH by putative precursors and synchronous cancers. METHODS: The polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze DNA from microdissected archival specimens. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: In hyperplasias from noncancerous breasts (i.e., without DCIS and/or IBC in analyses of hyperplasias), LOH at any given locus was rare (range, 0%-15%), although 37% of UDH and 42% of ADH lesions showed loss for at least one locus, suggesting that the development of hyperplasias can involve many different tumor suppressor genes. In DCIS from noncancerous breasts (i.e., without IBC in analyses of DCIS), LOH was common, with 70% of noncomedo lesions and 79% of comedo lesions showing at least one loss. In DCIS, substantial rates of loss (up to 37%) were observed at loci on chromosomes 16q, 17p, and 17q, suggesting that inactivated tumor suppressor genes in these regions may be important in the development of noninvasive breast cancer. When DCIS lesions from cancerous and noncancerous breasts were compared, substantially more LOH was observed in the cancerous breasts at a few loci (on chromosomes 2p, 11p, and 17q), suggesting that genetic alterations in these regions may be important in the progression to invasive disease. Among specimens harvested from cancerous breasts, 37% of UDH, 45% of ADH, 77% of noncomedo DCIS, and 80% of comedo DCIS lesions shared LOH with synchronous cancers at one locus or more, supporting the idea that the putative precursors and the cancers are genetically related.

Molecular genetic studies of early breast cancer evolution.

In the past few years there has been an explosion in the number of patients diagnosed with hyperplastic breast disease and in situ breast cancer. Based on epidemiological data, these morphologically defined lesions may be categorized as those with little malignant potential (e.g. typical hyperplasia or proliferative disease without atypia [PDWA], those with significant malignant potential which may already be "initiated" (e.g. atypical ductal hyperplasia [ADH]), and early "transformed" lesions which are malignant but not yet invasive (e.g. ductal carcinoma in situ [DCIS]). They may represent sequential evolutionary stages in the ontogeny of invasive breast cancer, with each morphologically defined stage resulting from accumulating genetic changes culminating in a transformed clonal lineage capable of invasion and metastasis. Using loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH) analysis, we are studying the genetic changes associated with these lesions in archival tissue samples. 50% (6/12) of the proliferative lesions (PDWA and ADH) and 80% of the DCIS shared their LOH patterns with more advanced lesions from the same breast, strongly supporting a precursor/product relationship between these lesion and the cancers they accompany.

p53 mutations in gastric and colorectal cancers in Texas Hispanics versus Anglos.

Gastric cancer is more than twice as common in Hispanics as in Anglos in Texas, while colorectal cancer is almost twice as common in Anglos as Hispanics. To test the hypothesis that mutations in the p53 tumour suppressor gene are involved in these differences, we examined 131 gastric and 138 colorectal cancers from Hispanic and Anglo patients from South Texas and Mexico using immunohistochemistry (IHC) as a screening assay for p53 mutations. The fraction of p53 positive cases was not significantly different in gastric cancers from Hispanics compared to Anglos (43% versus 61%, respectively, p = 0.13) or in colorectal cancer (57% versus 58%, respectively, p = 1.0), suggesting that p53 mutations are not involved in causing the different incidences of these cancers in these populations. In addition, the types of p53 mutations arising in gastric tumours from Hispanic patients were consistent with those reported in gastric tumours in other populations. Sequencing of mutations in five gastric cancers revealed two G:C to A:T transitions, two A:T to G:C transitions and one complex deletion. In contrast with findings in studies in other tumour types, neither stage nor survival was associated with p53 positive staining by IHC in either gastric or colorectal tumours in this study. Positive p53 immunostaining was associated with the diffuse histological subtype in gastric carcinoma (p = 0.05) and high histological grade in colorectal carcinoma (p = 0.04).

[Oxidation of p-nitrobenzylamine and p-dimethylaminomethylbenzylamine by amine oxidases from the human placenta and serum]. / Okislenie p-nitrobenzilamina i p-dimetilaminometilbenzilamina aminoksidazami platsenty i syvorotki krovi cheloveka.

Oxidation of p-nitro- and p-dimethylaminomethyl derivatives of benzylamine, catalyzed by amine oxidases from human placenta and blood serum, was studied. The amine oxidase activity was estimated by means of a spectrophotometric procedure involving measurement of aldehyde formed during the reaction after extraction with hexane. For extraction of benzaldehyde and p-nitrobenzaldehyde in the samples HCl was added up to the concentration of 0.17 M and for extraction of p-dimethylaminomethyl benzaldehyde--NaHCO3 up to the 0.5 M concentration. The reaction products were extracted with a yield of 94%, 83% and 78% respectively; molar extinction coefficients for aldehydes at the maximal absorption were equal to 13,080 (241 mn), 16,520 (258 nm), and 11,547 (248 nm), respectively. Analysis of the oxidative reactions using inhibitors Lilly 51,641, deprenyl, aminoguanidine and semicarbazide showed that monoamine oxidase of the A type (95%) and benzylamine oxidase (7%) catalyzed oxidation of 0.1 mM p-nitrobenzylamine in mitochondria and microsomes but oxidation of the substrate at 1 mM concentration was catalyzed by monoamine oxidase of the B type (20% in mitochondria and 35% in microsomes). In the soluble fraction oxidation of p-nitrobenzylamine was catalyzed mainly by diamine oxidase (55%); monoamine oxidase of the A type catalyzed oxidation of 30% of the amine, benzylamine oxidase-15%. The molecular activity of the mitochondrial monoamine oxidase of the A type with p-nitrobenzylamine as a substrate was equal to 61 nmol of the product per 1 mole of the enzyme per 1 min.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Allosteric modification of adenylate deaminase activity: appearance of adenosine deaminase activity as an effect of potassium ions]. / Allostericheskaia modifikatsiia aktivnosti adenilatdezaminazy: vozniknovenie adenozindezaminaznoi aktivnosti pod deistviem ionov kaliia.

The activation of purified adenylate deaminase from the duck myocardium by K+ is accompanied by modification of the substrate specificity and by the appearance of the capacity to deaminate adenosine and adenine. Adenosine deaminase activity originates at the concentration of K+ of 0.15 M that possesses the most stimulating effect on adenylate deaminase activity; with the increase of potassium ions concentration adenosine deaminating activity is enhanced as well, with a parallel reduction of Hill's constant. The PH-dependence, mode of inhibition by phosphate ions and the effect of alkaline metals suggests that adenosine deamination is carried out by natural adenylate deaminase active centres when their conformation is changed under the activator action.