Anne E. G. Lenferink

ErbB2/Neu-Induced, Cyclin D1-Dependent Transformation Is Accelerated in p27-Haploinsufficient Mammary Epithelial Cells but Impaired in p27-Null Cells

ABSTRACT ErbB2/Neu destabilizes the cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p27 and increases expression of cyclin D1. Therefore, we studied the roles of p27 and cyclin D1 in ErbB2-mediated mammary epithelial cell transformation. Overexpression of ErbB2 or cyclin D1 in p27+/− primary murine mammary epithelial cells resulted in increased proliferation, cyclin D1 nuclear localization, and colony formation in soft agar compared to those in p27+/+ cells. In contrast, ErbB2- or cyclin D1-overexpressing p27−/− cells displayed reduced proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, Cdk4 activity, cyclin D1 expression, and cyclin D1 nuclear localization compared to wild-type cells. A cyclin D1 mutation in its nuclear export sequence (T286A) partially rescued nuclear localization of cyclin D1 in p27−/− cells but did not increase proliferation or Cdk4 kinase activity. Overexpression of E2F1, however, increased proliferation to the same degree in p27+/+ , p27+/− , and p27−/− cells. Mammary glands from MMTV (mouse mammary tumor virus)-neu/p27+/− mice exhibited alveolar hyperplasia, enhanced proliferation, decreased apoptosis, and accelerated tumor formation compared to MMTV-neu/p27+/+ glands. However, MMTV-neu/p27−/− glands showed decreased proliferation, cyclin D1 expression, and Cdk4 activity, as well as markedly prolonged tumor latency, compared to MMTV-neu/p27+/+ glands. These results suggest that p27+/− mammary epithelium may be more susceptible to oncogene-induced tumorigenesis, whereas p27-null glands, due to severely impaired cyclin D1/Cdk4 function, are more resistant to transformation.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors: Rationale, mechanisms of action, and implications for drug resistance

Tyrosine kinases play a role in normal cellular regulatory processes. However, aberrant tyrosine kinase activity can lead to cellular transformation and can be causally associated with tumor maintenance and progression. In the last few years, high-throughput screening and the use of combinatorial, computational, and medicinal chemistry have led to the identification of small molecules that compete with the adenosine triphosphate binding site of the catalytic domain of several oncogenic tyrosine kinases. Some of these compounds are highly specific to a single tyrosine kinase, while others can inhibit several homologous kinase pockets simultaneously. At a practical level, the relative promiscuity of these inhibitors against more than one oncogenic tyrosine kinase may have clinical merit as well as implications for host tissue toxicity. Many of these small molecules are in different stages of preclinical and clinical development against several solid tumors and will be discussed.