Rational design of an estrogen receptor mutant with altered DNA-binding specificity.

Although artificial C2-H2 zinc fingers can be designed to recognize specific DNA sequences, it remains unclear to which extent nuclear receptor C4 zinc fingers can be tailored to bind novel DNA elements. Steroid receptors bind as dimers to palindromic response elements differing in the two central base pairs of repeated motifs. Predictions based on one amino acid-one base-pair relationships may not apply to estrogen receptors (ERs), which recognize the two central base pairs of estrogen response elements (EREs) via two charged amino acids, each contacting two bases on opposite DNA strands. Mutagenesis of these residues, E203 and K210 in ERalpha, indicated that both contribute to ERE binding. Removal of the electric charge and steric constraints associated with K210 was required for full loss of parental DNA-binding specificity and recognition of novel sequences by E203 mutants. Although some of the new binding profiles did not match predictions, the double mutation E203R-K210A generated as predicted a mutant ER that was transcriptionally active on palindromes of PuGCTCA motifs, but not on consensus EREs. This study demonstrates the feasibility of designing C4 zinc finger mutants with novel DNA-binding specificity, but also uncovers limitations of this approach.

A gene expression signature associated with metastatic cells in effusions of breast carcinoma patients.

Malignant effusion in invasive breast carcinoma is associated with poor prognosis. To decipher molecular events leading to metastasis and to identify reliable markers for targeted therapies are of crucial need. Therefore, we have used cDNA microarrays to delineate molecular signatures associated with metastasis and relapse in breast carcinoma effusions. Taking advantage of an immunomagnetic method, we have purified to homogeneity EpCAM-positive cells from 34 malignant effusions. Immunopurified cells represented as much as 10% of the whole cell fraction and their epithelial and carcinoma features were confirmed by immunofluorescence labeling. Gene expression profiles of 19 immunopurified effusion samples, were analyzed using human pan-genomic microarrays, and compared with those of 4 corresponding primary tumors, 8 breast carcinoma effusion-derived cell lines, and 4 healthy mammary tissues. Principal component and multiple clustering analyses of microarray data, clearly identified distinctive molecular portraits corresponding to the 4 categories of specimens. Of uppermost interest, effusion samples were arranged in 2 subsets on the basis of their gene expression patterns. The first subset partly shares a gene expression signature with the different cell lines, and overexpresses CD24, CD44 and epithelial cytokeratins 8,18,19. The second subset overexpresses markers related to aggressive invasive carcinoma (uPA receptor, S100A4, vimentin, CXCR4). These findings demonstrate the importance of using pure cell fractions to accurately decipher in silico gene expression of clinical specimens. Further studies will lead to the identification of genes of oustanding importance to diagnose malignant effusion, predict survival and tailor appropriate therapies to the metastatic effusion disease in breast carcinoma patients.