Identification and characterization of a negative regulatory element within the epidermal growth factor receptor gene first intron in hormone-dependent breast cancer cells

Autor: Melissa A. Wilson, Susan A. Chrysogelos
Rok vydání: 2002
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of cellular biochemistry. 85(3)
ISSN: 0730-2312
Popis: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exhibits an inverse correlation with estrogen receptor (ER) expression in the majority of breast cancers, predicting a poor response to endocrine therapy and poor survival rate. Inappropriate overexpression of EGFR in breast cancer is associated with a more aggressive phenotype. Transcriptional regulation is the major regulatory mechanism controlling EGFR overexpression in breast cancer cells. We have identified a region within the first intron of the EGFR gene that mediates transcriptional repression of EGFR gene expression in ER +/low EGFR expressing but not in ER−/high EGFR expressing breast cancer cells. Utilizing transient transfections of homologous and heterologous promoter-reporter constructs, we localized optimal repressive activity to a 96 bp intron domain. The 96 bp fragment displayed differential DNA-protein complex formation with nuclear extracts from ER + vs. ER− breast cancer cells. Moreover, factors interacting with this intron negative regulatory element appear to be estrogen-regulated. Consequently, our results suggest that we have identified a potential mechanism by which maintenance of low levels of EGFR expression and subsequent EGFR upregulation may be attributed to the loss of transcriptional repression of EGFR gene expression in hormone-dependent breast cancer cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 85: 601–614, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Databáze: OpenAIRE