Absent, small or homeotic 2-like protein (ASH2L) enhances the transcription of the estrogen receptor α gene through GATA-binding protein 3 (GATA3).

ASH2L is a component of MLL complexes that confer H3K4 trimethylation. The ASH2L gene is located at 8q11-12, which is often amplified in breast cancers. We found that increased ASH2L expression, which can result from gene amplification, is often correlated with increased ERα expression in both breast cancer cell lines and primary breast cancers. Forced expression of ASH2L induced ERα expression in mammary epithelial cells, whereas depletion of ASH2L suppressed ERα expression in breast cancer cells. To understand the mechanism by which ASH2L regulates ERα expression, we identified GATA3 as the binding protein of ASH2L. ASH2L was shown to potentiate the transcriptional activity of GATA3. ASH2L was recruited to the enhancer of the ERα gene through GATA3 to promote ERα transcription. This study established that ASH2L enhances ERα expression as a coactivator of GATA3 in breast cancers.

Transcription coactivator PBP/MED1-deficient hepatocytes are not susceptible to diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in the mouse.

Nuclear receptor coactivator [peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-binding protein (PBP)/mediator subunit 1 (MED1)] is a critical component of the mediator transcription complex. Disruption of this gene in the mouse results in embryonic lethality. Using the PBP/MED1 liver conditional null (PBP/MED1(DeltaLiv)) mice, we reported that PBP/MED1 is essential for liver regeneration and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha ligand Wy-14,643-induced receptor-mediated hepatocarcinogenesis. We now examined the role of PBP/MED1 in genotoxic chemical carcinogen diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced and phenobarbital-promoted hepatocarcinogenesis. The carcinogenic process was initiated by a single intraperitoneal injection of DEN at 14 days of age and initiated cells were promoted with phenobarbital (PB) (0.05%) in drinking water. PBP/MED1(DeltaLiv) mice, killed at 1, 4 and 12 weeks, revealed a striking proliferative response of few residual PBP/MED1-positive hepatocytes that escaped Cre-mediated deletion of PBP/MED1 gene. No proliferative expansion of PBP/MED1 null hepatocytes was noted in the PBP/MED1(DeltaLiv) mouse livers. Multiple hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) developed in the DEN-initiated PBP/MED1(fl/fl) and PBP/MED1(DeltaLiv) mice, 1 year after the PB promotion. Of interest is that all HCC developing in PBP/MED1(DeltaLiv) mice were PBP/MED1 positive. None of the tumors was PBP/MED1 negative implying that hepatocytes deficient in PBP/MED1 are not susceptible to neoplastic conversion. HCC that developed in PBP/MED1(DeltaLiv) mouse livers were transplantable in athymic nude mice and these maintained PBP/MED1(fl/fl) genotype. PBP/MED1(fl/fl) HCC cell line derived from these tumors expressed PBP/MED1 and deletion of PBP/MED1(fl/fl) allele by adeno-Cre injection into tumors caused necrosis of tumor cells. These results indicate that PBP/MED1 is essential for the development of HCC in the mouse.

Peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-binding protein (PBP) is essential for the growth of active Notch4-immortalized mammary epithelial cells by activating SOX10 expression.

PBP (peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-binding protein) [Med1 (mediator 1)/TRAP220 (thyroid-hormone-receptor-associated protein 220)] is essential for mammary gland development. We established a mammary epithelial cell line with a genotype of PBPLoxP/LoxP by expressing an active form of Notch4. Null mutation of PBP caused severe growth inhibition of the Notch4-immortalized mammary cells. We found that truncated PBP without the two LXXLL motifs could reverse the growth inhibition due to the deficiency of endogenous PBP, indicating that signalling through nuclear receptors is unlikely to be responsible for the growth inhibition as the result of PBP deficiency. Loss of PBP expression was shown to completely ablate the expression of SOX10 [Sry-related HMG (high-mobility group) box gene 10]. The re-expression of SOX10 was capable of reversing the growth inhibition due to PBP deficiency, whereas suppressed expression of SOX10 inhibited the growth of Notch4-immortalized mammary cells. Further studies revealed PBP is directly recruited to the enhancer of the SOX10 gene, indicating that SOX10 is a direct target gene of PBP. We conclude that PBP is essential for the growth of Notch4-immortalized mammary cells by activating SOX10 expression, providing a potential molecular mechanism through which PBP regulates the growth of mammary stem/progenitor cells.

Identification of Smyd4 as a potential tumor suppressor gene involved in breast cancer development.

To identify genes involved in breast tumorigenesis, we applied the retroviral LoxP-Cre system to a nontumorigenic mouse mammary epithelial cell line NOG8 to create random chromosome deletion/translocation. We found that the disruption of one allele of Smyd4 (SET and MYND domain containing 4) gene through chromosome translocation led to tumorigenesis. The expression of Smyd4 was markedly decreased in tumor cells. Re-expression of Smyd4 resulted in growth suppression of tumor cells and inhibition of tumor formation in nude mice. Furthermore, the RNA interference-mediated suppression of Smyd4 expression in human MCF10A mammary epithelial cells caused their growth in soft agar. Microarray studies revealed that platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha polypeptide (Pdgfr-alpha) was highly expressed in tumor cells compared with NOG8 cells. Re-expression of Smyd4 significantly reduced the expression of Pdgfr-alpha in tumor cells. In human breast cancers, reverse transcription-PCR results revealed that Smyd4 expression was totally silenced in 2 of 10 specimens. These findings indicate that Smyd4, as a potential tumor suppressor, plays a critical role in breast carcinogenesis at least partly through inhibiting the expression of Pdgfr-alpha, and could be a novel target for improving treatment of breast cancer.

PRIP promotes tumor formation through enhancing serum-responsive factor-mediated FOS expression.

PRIP (peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor interacting protein) is a nuclear receptor coactivator required for mammary gland development. To understand the function of PRIP in breast tumorigenesis, we established a mammary tumor cell line with the PRIP(Loxp/Loxp) genotype. By knocking out the PRIP gene in the tumor cell line, we demonstrated that PRIP deficiency led to inhibited tumor formation without affecting tumor cell proliferation. The PRIP deficiency was associated with decreased cell invasion and migration capabilities. We found that PRIP deficiency substantially reduced FOS gene expression. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed that PRIP was recruited to the FOS promoter. In addition, we demonstrated that PRIP also directly up-regulated the FOS gene expression in human breast cancer cells. Promoter analysis showed that PRIP acted through serum-responsive factor to regulate FOS gene expression. Finally, by re-expressing the FOS gene, we confirmed that the inhibited tumor formation of PRIP-deficient tumor cells was due to reduced expression of the FOS gene.

Identification of Fat4 as a candidate tumor suppressor gene in breast cancers.

Fat, a candidate tumor suppressor in Drosophila, is a component of Hippo signaling pathway involved in controlling organ size. We found that a approximately 3 Mbp deletion in mouse chromosome 3 caused tumorigenesis of a non-tumorigenic mammary epithelial cell line. The expression of Fat4 gene, one member of the Fat family, in the deleted region was inactivated, which resulted from promoter methylation of another Fat4 allele following the deletion of one Fat4 allele. Re-expression of Fat4 in Fat4-deficient tumor cells suppressed the tumorigenecity whereas suppression of Fat4 expression in the non-tumorigenic mammary epithelial cell line induced tumorigenesis. We also found that Fat4 expression was lost in a large fraction of human breast tumor cell lines and primary tumors. Loss of Fat4 expression in breast tumors was associated with human Fat4 promoter methylation. Together, these findings suggest that Fat4 is a strong candidate for a breast tumor suppressor gene.

Potentiation of estrogen receptor transcriptional activity by breast cancer amplified sequence 2.

Breast cancer amplified sequence 2 (BCAS2) was initially identified as a gene that was overexpressed and amplified in some breast cancer cell lines. It was later found to be a component of the spliceosome. Here, we identified BCAS2 as an estrogen receptor (ER) alpha interacting protein by yeast two-hybrid screening. In addition to ER alpha, BCAS2 also interacted with ER beta, TR beta, PR, and PPAR gamma in a ligand-independent way. Transient transfection assays revealed that overexpression of BCAS2 enhanced while inhibition of BCAS2 expression attenuated the estrogen receptor-mediated transcription. BCAS2 potentiated the activation function-2 (AF-2) activity of ER alpha but had no effect on the AF-1 activity. This study suggested that BCAS2 might play an important role in breast cancer development by increasing the estrogen receptor's function.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-binding protein null mutation results in defective mammary gland development.

A conditional null mutation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-binding protein (PBP) gene was generated to understand its role in mammary gland development. PBP-deficient mammary glands exhibited retarded ductal elongation during puberty, and decreased alveolar density during pregnancy and lactation. PBP-deficient mammary glands could not produce milk to nurse pups during lactation. Both the mammary ductal elongation in response to estrogen treatment and the mammary lobuloalveolar proliferation stimulated by estrogen plus progesterone were attenuated in PBP-deficient mammary glands. The proliferation index was decreased in PBP-deficient mammary glands. PBP-deficient mammary epithelial cells expressed abundant beta-casein, whey acidic protein, and WDNM1 mRNA, indicating a relatively intact differentiated function. PBP-deficient epithelial cells were unable to form mammospheres, which were considered to be derived from mammary progenitor/stem cells. We conclude that PBP plays a pivotal role in the normal mammary gland development.

Null mutation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-interacting protein in mammary glands causes defective mammopoiesis.

To investigate the role of nuclear receptor coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-interacting protein (PRIP) in mammary gland development, we generated a conditional null mutation of PRIP in mammary glands. In PRIP-deficient mammary glands, the elongation of ducts during puberty was not affected, but the numbers of ductal branches were decreased, a condition that persisted long after puberty, indicating that the potential of ductal branching was impaired. During pregnancy, PRIP-deficient mammary glands exhibited decreased alveolar density. The lactating PRIP-deficient glands contained scant lobuloalveoli with many adipocytes, whereas the wild type glands were composed of virtually no adipocytes but mostly lobuloalveoli. As a result, PRIP mammary-deficient glands could not produce enough milk to nurse all the pups during lactation. The ductal branching of mammary glands in response to estrogen treatment was attenuated in PRIP mutant glands. Whereas the proliferation index was similar between wild type and PRIP-deficient glands, increased apoptosis was observed in PRIP-deficient glands. PRIP-deficient glands expressed increased amphiregulin, transforming growth factor-alpha, and betacellulin mRNA as compared with wild type glands. The differentiated function of PRIP-deficient mammary epithelial cells was largely intact, as evidenced by the expression of abundant beta-casein, whey acidic protein (WAP), and WDNM1 mRNA. We conclude that PRIP is important for normal mammary gland development.

ERBP, a novel estrogen receptor binding protein enhancing the activity of estrogen receptor.

To understand the mechanism by which estrogen receptor (ER) activates transcription in a tissue specific fashion, we isolated ERalpha binding protein (ERBP) by performing yeast two-hybrid screening with human mammary gland cDNA library. ERBP is a nuclear protein and its mRNA is ubiquitously expressed. The in vitro interaction of ERBP with ERalpha was demonstrated by GST pull-down assay and this interaction was enhanced by estrogen. In addition, ERBP also bound to PPARgamma, RXRalpha, and ERbeta. ERBP interacted with the DNA binding domain and the hinge region of ERalpha. There are two ERalpha binding regions on ERBP. The binding of ERBP region at C-terminus to ERalpha is increased by estrogen while the binding of ERBP region at N-terminus is not affected by estrogen. The interaction of ERBP with ERalpha was further confirmed in vivo by immunoprecipitation. Transient transfection experiment demonstrated that ERBP enhanced the transcriptional activity of ERalpha.