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Frequent PTEN genomic alterations and activated PI3K pathway in basal-like breast cancer

ABSTRACT: Introduction Basal-like (BLCs) and epidermal growth factor receptor 2 overexpressing (HER2+) carcinomas are the subgroups of breast cancers which have the more aggressive clinical behavior. In contrast to HER2+ carcinomas, no targeted therapy is currently available for the treatment of patients with BLCs. In order to discover potential therapeutic targets, we searched for deregulated signaling pathways in human BLCs. Methods In this study, we focused on the oncogenic phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway in twelve BLCs, and compared it to a control series of eleven hormonal receptor negative- and grade III- matched HER2+ carcinomas. The two tumor populations were first characterized by immunohistochemistry and gene expression. The PI3K pathway was then investigated by gene copy-number analysis, gene expression profiling and at a proteomic level using reverse phase protein array technology and tissue microarray. The effects of PI3K inhibition pathway on proliferation and apoptosis was further analyzed in three human basal-like cell lines. Results The PI3K pathway was found to be activated in BLCs and up-regulated compared to HER2+ tumors as shown by a significantly increased activation of the downstream targets Akt and mTOR. BLCs expressed significantly lower levels of the tumor suppressor PTEN and PTEN levels correlated negatively in a significant manner with Akt activity within that population. PTEN protein expression correlated significantly with PTEN DNA copy number and more importantly, reduced PTEN DNA copy numbers were observed specifically in BLCs. Similarly to human samples, basal-like cell lines exhibited an activation of PI3K / Akt pathway and low/lack PTEN expression. Both PI3K and mTOR inhibitors led to basal-like cell growth arrest. However, apoptosis was observed specifically after PI3K inhibition.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE13787 | GEO | 2008/12/03

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA110619

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Abstract BACKGROUND: The basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) subtype is characterized by positive staining for basal mammary epithelial cytokeratin markers, lack of hormone receptor and HER2 expression, and poor prognosis with currently no approved molecularly-targeted therapies. The oncogenic signaling pathways driving basal-like tumorigenesis are not fully elucidated. METHODS: One hundred sixteen unselected breast tumors were subjected to integrated analysis of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway related molecular aberrations by immunohistochemistry, mutation analysis, and gene expression profiling. Incidence and relationships between molecular biomarkers were characterized. Findings for select biomarkers were validated in an independent series. Synergistic cell killing in vitro and in vivo tumor therapy was investigated in breast cancer cell lines and mouse xenograft models, respectively. RESULTS: Sixty-four % of cases had an oncogenic alteration to PIK3CA, PTEN, or INPP4B; when including upstream kinases HER2 and EGFR, 75 % of cases had one or more aberration including 97 % of estrogen receptor (ER)-negative tumors. PTEN-loss was significantly associated to stathmin and EGFR overexpression, positivity for the BLBC markers cytokeratin 5/14, and the BLBC molecular subtype by gene expression profiling, informing a potential therapeutic combination targeting these pathways in BLBC. Combination treatment of BLBC cell lines with the EGFR-inhibitor gefitinib plus the PI3K pathway inhibitor LY294002 was synergistic, and correspondingly, in an in vivo BLBC xenograft mouse model, gefitinib plus PI3K-inhibitor PWT-458 was more effective than either monotherapy and caused tumor regression. CONCLUSIONS: Our study emphasizes the importance of PI3K/PTEN pathway activity in ER-negative and basal-like breast cancer and supports the future clinical evaluation of combining EGFR and PI3K pathway inhibitors for the treatment of BLBC. Gene expression profiles were generated for 95 breast tumors using Agilent Human 44K v5 microarrays following the manufacturer protocol. Stratagene Universal Human Reference RNA was used as the common control sample.

Project description:Mosca2012 - Central Carbon Metabolism Regulated by AKT The role of the PI3K/Akt/PKB signalling pathway in oncogenesis has been extensively investigated and altered expression or mutations of many components of this pathway have been implicated in human cancers. Indeed, expression of constitutively active forms of Akt/PKB can prevent cell death upon growth factor withdrawal. PI3K/Akt/mTOR-mediated survival relies on a profound metabolic adaptation, including aerobic glycolysis. Here, the link between the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, glycolysis, lactic acid production and nucleotide biosynthesis has been modelled, considering two states - high and low PI3K/Akt/mTOR activity. The high PI3K/Akt/mTOR activity represents cancer cell line where PI3K/Akt/mTOR promotes a high rate of glucose metabolism (condition H) and the low PI3K/Akt/mTOR activity is characterised by a lower glycolytic rate due to a reduced PI3K/Akt/mTOR signal (condition L). This model corresponds to the high PI3K/Akt/mTOR signal (condition H). This model is described in the article: Computational Modelling of the Metabolic States Regulated by the Kinase Akt. Mosca E, Alfieri R, Maj C, Bevilacqua A, Canti G, Milanesi L. Frontiers in Systems Biology. 2012 Oct 13 Abstract: Signal transduction pathways and gene regulation determine a major reorganization of metabolic activities in order to support cell proliferation. Protein Kinase B (PKB), also known as Akt, participates in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, a master regulator of aerobic glycolysis and cellular biosynthesis, two activities shown by both normal and cancer proliferating cells. Not surprisingly considering its relevance for cellular metabolism, Akt/PKB is often found hyperactive in cancer cells. In the last decade, many efforts have been made to improve the understanding of the control of glucose metabolism and the identification of a therapeutic window between proliferating cancer cells and proliferating normal cells. In this context, we have modelled the link between the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, glycolysis, lactic acid production and nucleotide biosynthesis. We used a computational model in order to compare two metabolic states generated by the specific variation of the metabolic fluxes regulated by the activity of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. One of the two states represented the metabolism of a growing cancer cell characterised by aerobic glycolysis and cellular biosynthesis, while the other state represented the same metabolic network with a reduced glycolytic rate and a higher mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism, as reported in literature in relation to the activity of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR. Some steps that link glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway revealed their importance for controlling the dynamics of cancer glucose metabolism. This model is hosted on BioModels Database and identified by: MODEL1210150000 . To cite BioModels Database, please use: BioModels Database: An enhanced, curated and annotated resource for published quantitative kinetic models . To the extent possible under law, all copyright and related or neighbouring rights to this encoded model have been dedicated to the public domain worldwide. Please refer to CC0 Public Domain Dedication for more information.

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Frequent PTEN genomic alterations and activated PI3K pathway in basal-like breast cancer

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