Pleiotrophin as a Growth Factor and Therapeutic Target in Breast Cancer

Abstract

Two major findings with respect to the role and regulation of the growth factor pleiotrophin (PTN) were contributed by my laboratory: (1) We expanded our discovery that in the human PTN gene a tissue-specific promoter was generated by the germ line insertion of an endogenous retrovirus 25 million years ago. This is the first report of a retroviral insertion contributing a tissue-specific promoter in a human gene and only the second human gene that was reported to be altered in its expression pattern by retroviral elements. We now report that this element is also inserted in the BRCA-1 locus. (2) In addition, we analyzed the signal transduction pattern of PTN and showed that it works through MAP kinase / PI 3-kinase. Two proteins close to 200 kDa are phosphorylated in response to PTN and are likely candidate receptors for this growth factor.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA346541

Entities

People

  • Anton Wellstein

Organizations

  • Georgetown University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biomedical And Dental Materials
  • Breast Cancer
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Physiological Processes
  • Cells
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Chromosomes
  • Embryos
  • Gene Expression
  • Genetic Code
  • Genetic Structures
  • Genetics
  • Laboratory Animals
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Proteins
  • Tumor Cell Line

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Cellular and Molecular Pathways of Apoptosis.
  • Molecular Genetics