Mechanism of RhoB/FTI Action in Breast Cancer

Abstract

Progress was made this period on the important question of how FTI efficacy is achieved in breast cancer. Clinical trials have revealed that breast cancers respond to FTI but only in a minority of cases. What factors dictate FTI efficacy? In this period, we advanced our studies of the role of cyclin B1, a key regulator of mitosis, as a critical target for RhoB suppression in FTI-induced apoptosis. Evidence that cyclin B1 downregulation was critical for FTI-induced tumor suppression was obtained. Mechanistic studies revealed that at early times RhoB suppressed the transcription and the nuclear accumulation of cyclin B1 that occurs in cells destined to undergo FTI-induced cell death. In a second line of work, we discovered that Rho and Myc interact genetically in breast tumor formation. Specifically, we found that loss of RhoB accelerated breast tumor formation in MMTV-c-myc mice. Preliminary studies suggest that this effect may be based increased stability of the c-Myc protein, prompting the hypothesis that RhoB regulates the turnover of c-Myc in cancer cells. Our work furthers the notion that cyclin B1 is a critical proapoptotic target of RhoB and it reveals suggestive interactions between RhoB and Myc in breast cancer formation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA446332

Entities

People

  • George Prendergast
  • Uma R. Kamasani

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Apoptosis
  • Breast Cancer
  • Cell Physiological Processes
  • Cells
  • Clinical Trials
  • Cytoskeleton
  • Growth Factors
  • Health Services
  • Medical Personnel
  • Neoplasms
  • Programmed Cell Death

Readers

  • Breast cancer cell signaling and growth regulation.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology