Genomic alterations identified by array comparative genomic hybridization as prognostic markers in tamoxifen-treated estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: A considerable proportion of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer recurs despite tamoxifen treatment, which is a serious problem commonly encountered in clinical practice. We tried to find novel prognostic markers in this subtype of breast cancer. METHODS: We performed array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) with 1,440 human bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones to assess copy number changes in 28 fresh-frozen ER-positive breast cancer tissues. All of the patients included had received at least 1 year of tamoxifen treatment. Nine patients had distant recurrence within 5 years (Recurrence group) of diagnosis and 19 patients were alive without disease at least 5 years after diagnosis (Non-recurrence group). RESULTS: Potential prognostic variables were comparable between the two groups. In an unsupervised clustering analysis, samples from each group were well separated. The most common regions of gain in all samples were 1q32.1, 17q23.3, 8q24.11, 17q12-q21.1, and 8p11.21, and the most common regions of loss were 6q14.1-q16.3, 11q21-q24.3, and 13q13.2-q14.3, as called by CGH-Explorer software. The average frequency of copy number changes was similar between the two groups. The most significant chromosomal alterations found more often in the Recurrence group using two different statistical methods were loss of 11p15.5-p15.4, 1p36.33, 11q13.1, and 11p11.2 (adjusted p values < 0.001). In subgroup analysis according to lymph node status, loss of 11p15 and 1p36 were found more often in Recurrence group with borderline significance within the lymph node positive patients (adjusted p = 0.052). CONCLUSION: Our array CGH analysis with BAC clones could detect various genomic alterations in ER-positive breast cancers, and Recurrence group samples showed a significantly different pattern of DNA copy number changes than did Non-recurrence group samples.

Optical and conformational studies on benzobisthiazole derivatives.

2,6-Didodecyl-4,8-diphenyl-benzo[1,2-d;4,5-d']bisthiazole (3) and 2,6-didodecyl-4,8-dipyrrole-2-yl-benzo[1,2-d;4,5-d']bisthiazole (5) were synthesized, and their optical properties were investigated in solution and in the solid state. Compounds 3 and 5 were excited with the 325 nm He-Cd laser line to produce blue and green luminescence, respectively. The luminescence of 5 (Phi = 14%) was more efficient than that of 3 (Phi = 5%). Structural and optical properties were further determined with DFT and ZINDO calculations. The planar structure of 5 results in pi --> pi* electronic transitions from the pyrrole moiety to the benzobisthiazole frame, while the twisted geometry of 3 results in luminescence strongly associated with the pi --> pi* transitions within the benzothiazole frame. The effect of solvent on the luminescence properties of 5 is summarized as competition between intra- and intermolecular NH...N hydrogen bonds.

Siah proteins induce the epidermal growth factor-dependent degradation of phospholipase Cepsilon.

Phospholipase Cepsilon (PLCepsilon) is activated by various growth factors or G-protein-coupled receptor ligands via different activation mechanisms. The Ras association (RA) domain of PLCepsilon is known to be important for its ability to bind with Ras-family GTPase upon growth factor stimulation. In the present study, we identified Siah1 and Siah2 as novel binding partners of the PLCepsilon RA domain. Both Siah1 and Siah2 interacted with the RA2 domain of PLCepsilon, and the mutation of Lys-2186 of the PLCepsilon RA2 domain abolished this association. Moreover, Siah induced the ubiquitination and degradation of PLCepsilon upon epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulation, and Siah proteins were phosphorylated on multiple tyrosine residues via an Src-dependent pathway upon EGF treatment. The Src inhibitor abolished the EGF-dependent ubiquitination of PLCepsilon, and the Siah1 phosphorylation-deficient mutant could not increase the EGF-dependent ubiquitination and degradation of PLCepsilon. The EGF-dependent degradation of PLCepsilon was blocked in mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells derived from Siah1a/Siah2 double knockout mice, and the extrinsic expression of wild-type Siah1 restored the degradation of PLCepsilon, whereas the phosphorylation-deficient mutant did not. Siah1 expression abolished PLCepsilon-dependent potentiation of EGF-dependent cell growth. In addition, the expression of wild-type Siah1 in Siah1a/Siah2-double knockout MEF cells inhibited EGF-dependent cell growth, and this inhibition was abolished by PLCepsilon knockdown. Our results suggest that the Siah-dependent degradation of PLCepsilon plays a role in the regulation of growth factor-dependent cell growth.