CD44(+)/CD24(- )breast cancer cells exhibit enhanced invasive properties: an early step necessary for metastasis

INTRODUCTION: A subpopulation (CD44(+)/CD24(-)) of breast cancer cells has been reported to have stem/progenitor cell properties. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this subpopulation of cancer cells has the unique ability to invade, home, and proliferate at sites of metastasis. METHODS: CD44 and CD24 expression was determined by flow cytometry. Northern blotting was used to determine the expression of proinvasive and 'bone and lung metastasis signature' genes. A matrigel invasion assay and intracardiac inoculation into nude mice were used to evaluate invasion, and homing and proliferation at sites of metastasis, respectively. RESULTS: Five among 13 breast cancer cell lines examined (MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-436, Hs578T, SUM1315, and HBL-100) contained a higher percentage (>30%) of CD44(+)/CD24(- )cells. Cell lines with high CD44(+)/CD24(- )cell numbers express basal/mesenchymal or myoepithelial but not luminal markers. Expression levels of proinvasive genes (IL-1α, IL-6, IL-8, and urokinase plasminogen activator [UPA]) were higher in cell lines with a significant CD44(+)/CD24(- )population than in other cell lines. Among the CD44(+)/CD24(-)-positive cell lines, MDA-MB-231 has the unique property of expressing a broad range of genes that favor bone and lung metastasis. Consistent with previous studies in nude mice, cell lines with CD44(+)/CD24(- )subpopulation were more invasive than other cell lines. However, only a subset of CD44(+)/CD24(-)-positive cell lines was able to home and proliferate in lungs. CONCLUSION: Breast cancer cells with CD44(+)/CD24(- )subpopulation express higher levels of proinvasive genes and have highly invasive properties. However, this phenotype is not sufficient to predict capacity for pulmonary metastasis

Cdc28 Activates Exit from Mitosis in Budding Yeast

The activity of the cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1), Cdc28, inhibits the transition from anaphase to G1 in budding yeast. CDC28-T18V, Y19F (CDC28-VF), a mutant that lacks inhibitory phosphorylation sites, delays the exit from mitosis and is hypersensitive to perturbations that arrest cells in mitosis. Surprisingly, this behavior is not due to a lack of inhibitory phosphorylation or increased kinase activity, but reflects reduced activity of the anaphase-promoting complex (APC), a defect shared with other mutants that lower Cdc28/Clb activity in mitosis. CDC28-VF has reduced Cdc20- dependent APC activity in mitosis, but normal Hct1- dependent APC activity in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. The defect in Cdc20-dependent APC activity in CDC28-VF correlates with reduced association of Cdc20 with the APC. The defects of CDC28-VF suggest that Cdc28 activity is required to induce the metaphase to anaphase transition and initiate the transition from anaphase to G1 in budding yeast

Building prognostic models for breast cancer patients using clinical variables and hundreds of gene expression signatures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multiple breast cancer gene expression profiles have been developed that appear to provide similar abilities to predict outcome and may outperform clinical-pathologic criteria; however, the extent to which seemingly disparate profiles provide additive prognostic information is not known, nor do we know whether prognostic profiles perform equally across clinically defined breast cancer subtypes. We evaluated whether combining the prognostic powers of standard breast cancer clinical variables with a large set of gene expression signatures could improve on our ability to predict patient outcomes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using clinical-pathological variables and a collection of 323 gene expression "modules", including 115 previously published signatures, we build multivariate Cox proportional hazards models using a dataset of 550 node-negative systemically untreated breast cancer patients. Models predictive of pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy were also built using this approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified statistically significant prognostic models for relapse-free survival (RFS) at 7 years for the entire population, and for the subgroups of patients with ER-positive, or Luminal tumors. Furthermore, we found that combined models that included both clinical and genomic parameters improved prognostication compared with models with either clinical or genomic variables alone. Finally, we were able to build statistically significant combined models for pathological complete response (pCR) predictions for the entire population.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Integration of gene expression signatures and clinical-pathological factors is an improved method over either variable type alone. Highly prognostic models could be created when using all patients, and for the subset of patients with lymph node-negative and ER-positive breast cancers. Other variables beyond gene expression and clinical-pathological variables, like gene mutation status or DNA copy number changes, will be needed to build robust prognostic models for ER-negative breast cancer patients. This combined clinical and genomics model approach can also be used to build predictors of therapy responsiveness, and could ultimately be applied to other tumor types.</p

Synthesis and characterization of poly(2-amino-2-methylpropyl)acrylamide, poly(2-amino-2-methylbutyl)acrylamide, and copolymers of polyacrylamide

Polyacrylamides possessing an amino group at the terminus of the branch chain as the potential site for amino acid and/or nucleic acid base grafting have been prepared. This type of polyacrylamide would provide a substantial spacing distance between the polymer main chain and pendant groups. Poly(2-amino-2-methylpropyl)acrylamide (PDMPA) and optically active poly(2-amino-2-methylbutyl)acrylamide (PDMBA) were characterized using vapor phase osmometry (VPO), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and dilute solution viscometry. In addition, copolymers of poly(2-amino-2-methylpropyl)acrylamide with N -vinylpyrrolidinone, N -vinylimidazole, and H(5)-vinylimidazole, were prepared.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38815/1/080241219_ftp.pd

Synthesis and characterization of poly(2-amino-2-methylpropyl)acrylamide, poly(2-amino-2-methylbutyl)acrylamide, and copolymers of polyacrylamide

Polyacrylamides possessing an amino group at the terminus of the branch chain as the potential site for amino acid and/or nucleic acid base grafting have been prepared. This type of polyacrylamide would provide a substantial spacing distance between the polymer main chain and pendant groups. Poly(2-amino-2-methylpropyl)acrylamide (PDMPA) and optically active poly(2-amino-2-methylbutyl)acrylamide (PDMBA) were characterized using vapor phase osmometry (VPO), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and dilute solution viscometry. In addition, copolymers of poly(2-amino-2-methylpropyl)acrylamide with N -vinylpyrrolidinone, N -vinylimidazole, and H(5)-vinylimidazole, were prepared.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38815/1/080241219_ftp.pd

-azo linkages in eight-, nine-, and ten-membered cyclic azo compounds

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34210/1/0000499.pd