Takuji Sakuratani

Downregulation of ARID1A, a component of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, in breast cancer

Recent studies unraveled that AT-rich interactive domain-containing protein 1A (ARID1A), a subunit of the mammary SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, acts as a tumor suppressor in various cancers. In this study, we first evaluated ARID1A expression by immunohistochemistry in invasive breast cancer tissue specimens and assessed the correlation with the prognosis of patients with breast cancer. Non-tumorous mammary duct epithelial cells exhibited strong nuclear ARID1A staining, whereas different degrees of loss in ARID1A immunoreactivity were observed in many invasive breast cancer cells. We scored ARID1A immunoreactivity based on the sum of the percentage score in invasive cancer cells (on a scale of 0 to 5) and the intensity score (on a scale of 0 to 3), for a possible total score of 0 to 8. Interestingly, partial loss of ARID1A expression, score 2 to 3, was significantly correlated with poor disease free survival of the patients. Subsequently, we performed siRNA-mediated ARID1A knockdown in cultured breast cancer cells followed by comprehensive gene profiling and quantitative RT-PCR. Interestingly, many genes were downregulated by partial loss of ARID1A, whereas RAB11FIP1 gene expression was significantly upregulated by partial loss of ARID1A expression in breast cancer cells. In contrast, a more than 50% reduction in ARID1A mRNA decreased RAB11FIP1gene expression. Immunoblotting also demonstrated that partial downregulation of ARID1A mRNA at approximately 20% reduction significantly increased the expression of RAB11FIP1 protein in MCF-7 cells, whereas, over 50% reduction of ARID1A mRNA resulted in reduction of RAB11FIP1 protein in cultured breast cancer cells. Recent studies reveal that RAB11FIP1 overexpression leads to breast cancer progression. Altogether, the present findings indicated that partial loss of ARID1A expression is linked to unfavorable outcome for patients with breast cancer, possibly due to increased RAB11FIP1 expression.

Expression of TMEM207 in Colorectal Cancer: Relation between TMEM207 and Intelectin-1.

Recent research advances highlighted an intestinal goblet cell-produced lectin, intelectin-1 (also known as omentin-1), as a tumor suppressor. One study indicated that downregulation of intelectin-1 may be related to the unfavorable prognosis among patients with colorectal carcinoma at an advanced stage. The present study was aimed at analyzing the expression of a hitherto uncharacterized transmembrane protein TMEM207 in colorectal carcinoma, and we found that the TMEM207 function is linked to intelectin-1 processing. With specific antibodies, TMEM207 immunoreactivity was detected in 38 of 216 colorectal cancer tissue samples. TMEM207 immunoreactivity correlated inversely with lymph node metastatic status (p < 0.01). TMEM207 expression significantly correlated with the mucinous phenotype of colorectal carcinoma. A coimmunoprecipitation assay revealed an interaction between intelectin-1 and TMEM207 in colorectal cancer cells. A proximal ligation assay indicated that intelectin-1 and TMEM207 were colocalized to the cytoplasm of the colorectal cancer cells. A small-interfering-RNA-mediated knockdown of TMEM207 increased polyubiquitination and proteasome degradation of intelectin-1 in cultured colorectal cancer cells and decreased intelectin-1 secretion. These findings indicate that a loss of TMEM207 expression leads to insufficient intelectin-1 production thus promoting colorectal carcinogenesis.

Expression of Beclin-1 in the Microenvironment of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the Breast: Correlation with Prognosis and the Cancer-Stromal Interaction

We examined the pathobiological properties of beclin-1, which is a key regulator of autophagosome formation in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast, with a particular focus on the cancer microenvironment. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that cancer cells and stromal mesenchymal cells expressed beclin-1 in 68 and 38 of 115 invasive ductal cancers, respectively. Expression of beclin-1 in cancer or stromal cells alone did not correlate with patient prognosis. In contrast, loss of beclin-1 in cancer cells and overexpression in stromal mesenchymal cells was associated with local cancer recurrence, postoperative lymph node metastasis, and a poor disease-free survival rate. A comprehensive gene expression analysis was performed on a co-culture of breast cancer cells and mesenchymal stromal cells, that latter of which either expressed beclin-1 or was depleted of beclin-1 by siRNA. Notably, siRNA-mediated downregulation of beclin-1 in mesenchymal cells co-cultured with breast cancer cells decreased the levels of various pro-inflammatory cytokines, their receptors, and collagen receptors. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed that reduction of stromal beclin-1 expression decreased the expression of IL-1β and collagen receptor discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2). Microenvironmental IL-1β is believed to play an important role in tumor invasion. Recent work has also indicated that overexpression of DDR2 contributes to breast cancer invasion and lymph node metastasis. Taken together, these findings indicate beclin-1 expression in the stroma might be important for shaping the breast cancer microenvironment and thus could be a potent molecular target in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.