Project description:The role of diet in the prevention of breast cancer is widely accepted, yet little is known on how early dietary effects mitigate adult cancer risk. Soy consumption is associated with reduced breast cancer risk in women, an effect largely attributed to the soy isoflavone genistein (GEN). We previously showed lower chemically-induced mammary tumor incidence in young adult rats with lifetime dietary intake of soy protein isolate (SPI), a highly refined soy product in infant formula, than in those fed the control diet Casein (CAS). To gain insight into signaling pathways underlying dietary tumor protection, we performed genome-wide expression profiling of mammary epithelial cells from young adult rats lifetime fed CAS, SPI, or supplemental GEN-based diets. We identified mammary epithelial genes regulated by SPI (79 total) and GEN (99 total) using Affymetrix rat 230A GeneChip arrays and found minimal overlap in gene expression patterns. We showed that the regulated transcripts functionally cluster in biochemical pathways involving metabolism, immune response, signal transduction, and ion transport. We confirmed the differential expression of Wnt (Wnt5a, Sfrp2) and Notch (Notch2, Hes1) signaling components by SPI and/or GEN using QPCR. Wnt pathway inhibition by GEN was supported by lower Cyclin D1 immunoreactivity in mammary ductal epithelium of GEN relative to CAS and SPI, despite their comparable levels of membrane-localized E-cadherin and β-catenin. Identification of distinct GEN and SPI responsive genes in mammary epithelial cells may define early events contributing to tumor protection by diet relevant to the prevention of breast and other types of cancer. Experiment Overall Design: Female Sprague-Dawley rats, fed one of the three purified diets, were studied at postnatal day50. Total RNA( each RNA samples were extracted from #4 mammary gland from two animals under the same diet group) purified from non-tumor tissue within the proximal half of each colon, was used to prepare biotinylated probes, which were hybridized to Affymetrix RAE230 rat microarrays.
Project description:The role of diet in the prevention of breast cancer is widely accepted, yet little is known on how early dietary effects mitigate adult cancer risk. Soy consumption is associated with reduced breast cancer risk in women, an effect largely attributed to the soy isoflavone genistein (GEN). We previously showed lower chemically-induced mammary tumor incidence in young adult rats with lifetime dietary intake of soy protein isolate (SPI), a highly refined soy product in infant formula, than in those fed the control diet Casein (CAS). To gain insight into signaling pathways underlying dietary tumor protection, we performed genome-wide expression profiling of mammary epithelial cells from young adult rats lifetime fed CAS, SPI, or supplemental GEN-based diets. We identified mammary epithelial genes regulated by SPI (79 total) and GEN (99 total) using Affymetrix rat 230A GeneChip arrays and found minimal overlap in gene expression patterns. We showed that the regulated transcripts functionally cluster in biochemical pathways involving metabolism, immune response, signal transduction, and ion transport. We confirmed the differential expression of Wnt (Wnt5a, Sfrp2) and Notch (Notch2, Hes1) signaling components by SPI and/or GEN using QPCR. Wnt pathway inhibition by GEN was supported by lower Cyclin D1 immunoreactivity in mammary ductal epithelium of GEN relative to CAS and SPI, despite their comparable levels of membrane-localized E-cadherin and β-catenin. Identification of distinct GEN and SPI responsive genes in mammary epithelial cells may define early events contributing to tumor protection by diet relevant to the prevention of breast and other types of cancer. Keywords: Comarative genomic hybridization
Project description:Soy foods have been suggested to have both positive health benefits and potentially adverse effects largely as a result of their content of isoflavone phytoestrogens. Since soy protein isolate (SPI) contains isoflavones, in addition to purported health benefits, safety concerns have been raised regarding the use of SPI and soy formulas, because of potential estrogenic actions during the neonatal period, including the potential for reproductive toxicity, infertility, and the possibility of increased risk for development and recurrence of estrogen sensitive cancers such as breast cancer. In the current study, we used a rat model to compare the effects of SPI with those of 17b-estradiol (E2), on global gene expression profiles and morphology in the female rat mammary gland. Rats were either fed AIN-93G diets containing casein (CAS) or SPI beginning on postnatal day (PND) 30. Rats were ovariectomized (OVX) on PND 50 and treated with E2 or vehicle for 14 days. Microarray analysis was carried out to compare the effects of SPI and E2 alone or in combination on the mammary gene expression. The data suggest a non-estrogenic effect of SPI on the rat mammary even in the absence of endogenous estrogens.