Role of Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) in Breast Cancer
Abstract
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a highly glycosylated protein that is overexpressed in many human cancers including, breast cancer. Recent studies suggest that overexpression of CEA promotes tumorogenesis by inhibiting cell differentiation, and by preventing anoikis, a type of apoptotic program which destroys cells that lose contact with the extacellular matrix. If arid how CEA promotes breast cancer remains to be determined. Our hypothesis is that if overexpression of CEA is linked to breast cancer progression, downregulation of CEA may promote apoptosis or alter the expression of genes that are involved in apoptosis and cell cycle/proliferation. In order to test this hypothesis, we employed RNA interference (RNAi) to downregulate CEA mRNA. RNAi is a recently discovered phenomenon, which induces sequence-specific gene silencing in response to exogenous double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Our data indicate that among a variety of siRNAs tested, a chemically synthesized siRNA homologous to CEA (nucleotide 402-422) has been most effective in suppressing the expression of CEA. We have also developed transcription condition that permits T7 RNA -polymerase catalyzed incorporation of 8-N3ATP into RNA. 8-N3AMP substituted RNAs can potentially be used to monitor siRNA localization and for studying the mechanism of siRNA mediate gene silencing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA429712
Entities
People
- Rajesh K. Gaur