Testing the Oncogenic Relevance of Cell Adhesion and Cytosketal Genes Affected by DNA Deletions in Breast Cancer
Abstract
There are numerous genomic alterations that occur in breast cancer and most other commonly occurring epithelial cancers, but we still don't have a complete understanding of which of the hundreds of altered genes are actually doing something to cause or maintain cancer progression. It is important to have a complete understanding so that we can design more effective therapies. In this project we have used functional assays to test the oncogenic function of genes that are commonly altered in human cancer including cytoskeletal and cell adhesion genes. We discovered that CYFIP1, a subunit of the WAVE complex, which regulates cytoskeletal dynamics, is commonly deleted in breast cancer and has tumor suppressor function (Silva et al., Cell 2009 137:1047). We also discovered that TSPAN31, a cell adhesion gene that is amplified in diverse cancers including sarcomas and breast cancer, is a functional oncogene (Sawey et al., Cancer Cell 2011 19:347). These results establish that genomic alteration of cytoskeletal and cell adhesion genes play a functional role in tumor progression and this suggests new strategies for treatment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA547606
Entities
People
- Scott Powers
Organizations
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory