Osteopontin gene expression determines spontaneous metastatic performance of orthotopic human breast cancer xenografts.

ABSTRACT: A major problem in the therapeutic management of cancer is the growth of metastases in distant organs, but the genes orchestrating the process need to be identified for the rational design of new treatment. Here, we provide decisive experimental evidence demonstrating the causal involvement of a specific gene, osteopontin (OPN), in the pathogenesis of metastasis by human breast cancer cells and implicating some of its probable partners. Stable long-term depletion, or up-regulation, of OPN gene expression in a matched, isogenic pair of human breast cancer cell lines of differing metastatic proficiency reproducibly changed their ability to colonize distant organs. OPN down-regulation was achieved by transduction of the metastatic line with a DNA construct encoding a small hairpin RNA in a ve

SUBMITTER: Suzuki M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1934534 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature