Role of BRCA1 in Estrogen Receptor Expression in Breast Cancer
Abstract
The overall goal of the research supported by this award was to investigate the correlation between BRCAl-mutated breast cancers and the Estrogen Receptor (ER)-negative phenotype. Although most sporadic breast cancers are ER-positive, studies have consistently shown that the vast majority of BRCAl-linked breast cancers are ER-negative (1-3). In sporadic cancers lacking ER expression, decreased expression of ER mRNA has been noted, without genomic DNA mutations in the ER gene (4-8). Two possible mechanisms by which breast cancers arising in the absence of functional BRCA1 are more bkely than not to be ER-negative have been investigated. The first (Task I) was to evaluate the degree of DNA methylation in the region of the ER promoter in BRCAl-linked breast cancers. Methylation of CpGs within the ER promoter has been implicated as an operative mechanism of repressed expression in some cell lines and tumor specimens. The second approach (Task II) was to utilize ER promoter constructs in transient transfection experiments to determine whether expression of BRCA1 affected transcriptional activity at this promoter.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA409810
Entities
People
- Kirsten A. Doherty
Organizations
- Dartmouth College