Identification of invasion specific splice variants of the cytoskeletal protein Mena present in mammary tumor cells during invasion in vivo.

Abstract

We have studied the gene expression pattern of invasive primary mammary tumor cells using a unique in vivo invasion assay that isolates the invasive tumor cells by chemotaxis. One of the genes upregulated in the invasive tumor cells is Mena, an actin binding protein involved in the regulation of cell motility. There are multiple known splice variants of Mena accounted for by four alternatively included exons, +, ++, +++ and 11a. Using the in vivo invasion assay in rats and mice with mammary tumors we observed that two isoforms of Mena, ++ and +++, are upregulated in the invasive tumor cells and one isoform, 11a, is downregulated. The Mena isoform switching pattern described here may provide a new biomarker for the presence of metastatic cancer cells and for prognosis.

• Authors: Sumanta Goswami, Ulrike Philippar, Daqian Sun, Antonia Patsialou, Jacob Avraham, Weigang Wang, Francesca Di Modugno, Paola Nistico, Frank B Gertler, John S Condeelis
• Journal: Clinical & experimental metastasis (Clin Exp Metastasis) Vol. 26 Issue 2 Pg. 153-9 ( 2009) ISSN: 1573-7276 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 18985426 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Enah protein, human
• Microfilament Proteins
• Protein Isoforms

Topics

• Adenocarcinoma (metabolism, pathology)
• Animals
• Breast Neoplasms (metabolism, pathology)
• Chemotaxis
• Humans
• Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental (metabolism, pathology)
• Mice
• Mice, SCID
• Microfilament Proteins (genetics, physiology)
• Neoplasm Invasiveness
• Neoplasm Metastasis
• Neoplasm Transplantation
• Protein Isoforms (genetics, physiology)
• Rats
• Transplantation, Heterologous