Protein Kinases in Mammary Gland Development and Carcinogenesis
Abstract
In this report, we present evidence that two novel kinases, Hunk (hormonally upregulated neu-tumor associated kinase) and Punc (pregnancy upregulated novel CaM kinase) isolated in a screen to identify kinases involved in mammary gland differentiation and carcinogenesis may be playing a role in both processes. Hunk and Punc are both developmentally regulated with Hunk levels highest early in pregnancy and Punc expression peaking late in pregnancy. In addition, their punctate spatial expression patterns suggest that Hunk and Punc may be markers for mammary epithelial cell subtypes. Consistent with their developmentally regulated expression patterns, we provide initial data suggesting that both kinases, in the context of an MMIV transgenic animal, affect normal differentiation of the mammary gland. Data also suggests that these kinases may be playing a role in carcinogenesis. Both kinases display an oncogene-restricted expression pattern with Punc expressed exclusively in tumor cell lines derived from int-2 and c-myc overexpressing glands and Hunk expression restricted to Neu and H-ras transformed cell lines. Initial observations in a panel of human tumor cell lines, reveals overexpression of Hunk in cell lines of different tumor types, including several breast cancer lines. Taken together, we hypothesize that Hunk and Punc may be kinases in signal transduction cascades leading to both the development and possibly the transformation of the mammary epithelium.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADB241664
Entities
People
- Heather P. Gardner
- Lewis A Chodosh
Organizations
- University of Pennsylvania