Mammary Cell News Volume 5.09 | Mar 7 2013

LABORATORY RESEARCH

Rare Somatic Cells from Human Breast Tissue Exhibit Extensive Lineage Plasticity
Scientists identified cell surface markers associated with repression of p16^INK4a/cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A, a critical determinant in the acquisition of a plastic state. These cell surface markers allowed direct isolation of rare cells from healthy human breast tissue that exhibit extensive lineage plasticity. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract | Press Release

TNRC9 Downregulates BRCA1 Expression and Promotes Breast Cancer Aggressiveness
The breast cancer gene TNRC9 has been associated with disease susceptibility but its function is undetermined. Researchers report that TNRC9 is often amplified and overexpressed in breast cancer, particularly in advanced breast cancer. [Cancer Res] Abstract

Inherited Variation in miR-290 Expression Suppresses Breast Cancer Progression by Targeting the Metastasis Susceptibility Gene Arid4b
Highly metastatic MMTV-PyMT mice were crossed with AKXD (AKR/J x DBA/2J) recombinant inbred strains to produce F1 progeny with varying metastatic indices. When mammary tumors from the F1 progeny were analyzed by microRNA (miRNA) microarray, miR-290 was identified as a top candidate for a progression-associated miRNA. [Cancer Res] Abstract

miR203 Mediates Subversion of Stem Cell Properties during Mammary Epithelial Differentiation via Repression of ΔNP63α and Promotes Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition
Data presented indicate that expression of miR203, a microRNA that targets ΔNp63α and ΔNp63β is activated during luminal epithelial differentiation and that this pattern is observed in the murine mammary hierarchy. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

The Role of Versican in Modulating Breast Cancer Cell Self-Renewal
There is little literature on the potential role of breast cancer stem cells on the cellular-extracellular matrix interactions involving versican. An anti-versican shRNA was used to observe the effect of reduction of versican on breast cancer self-renewal. A versican G3 construct was exogenously expressed in breast cancer cell lines. [Mol Cancer Res] Abstract

MicroRNA miR-30 Family Regulates Non-Attachment Growth of Breast Cancer Cells
To explore the notion that microRNAs (miRNAs) may have a role in sustaining breast tumor-initiating cells (BT-ICs), investigators performed a comprehensive profiling of miRNA expression in a model of putative BT-ICs enriched by non-attachment growth conditions. [BMC Genomics] Abstract | Full Article

Methyl Antcinate A Suppresses the Population of Cancer Stem-Like Cells in MCF7 Human Breast Cancer Cell Line
The authors examined the effect of Methyl antcinate A (MAA) on cancer stem-like cells in the MCF7 human breast cancer cell line. Although MAA displayed very low cytotoxic effect towards MCF7 under normal culture conditions, it did show good inhibitory effects on the self-renewal capability which was examined by mammosphere culture including primary and secondary sphere. [Molecules] Abstract | Full Article

CLINICAL RESEARCH

The Exportability of the ACOSOG Z0011 Criteria for Omitting Axillary Lymph Node Dissection after Positive Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Findings: A Multicenter Study
From a multicenter database, the authors selected 188 patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) and then excluded patients with positive SLNs on immunohistochemistry only. They retrospectively applied the Z0011 criteria and grouped the patients as eligible or ineligible for omitting completion axillary lymph node dissection. [Ann Surg Oncol] Abstract

A Retrospective Case Series of 103 Consecutive Patients with Leptomeningeal Metastasis and Breast Cancer
Approximately 2-5% of patients with breast cancer (BC) develop leptomeningeal metastasis (LM). 103 consecutive patients with BC were diagnosed with LM and initially treated with intra-cerebrospinal fluid liposomal cytarabine from 2007 to 2011 at a single institution. [J Neurooncol] Abstract

Roche Obtains EU Approval for PERJETA, a New Personalized Treatment for Aggressive Type of Breast Cancer
Roche announced that the European Medicines Agency has approved PERJETA for patients with previously untreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. PERJETA is approved in combination with Herceptin and docetaxel in adult patients with HER2-positive metastatic or locally recurrent unresectable breast cancer, who have not received previous anti-HER2 therapy or chemotherapy for their metastatic disease. [F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd] Press Release

Ludwig-Maximilians University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Germany Begins Use of the MarginProbe System
Dune Medical Devices announced that the MarginProbe System will be used at the Breast Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital, in Munich, Germany. The Breast Center treats over 400 primary breast cancer cases annually at its two sites Maistrasse-Innenstadt and Grosshadern. [PR Newswire Association LLC] Press Release

National Institutes of Health (United States)

Food and Drug Administration (United States)

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)

European Medicines Agency (European Union)

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)

Postdoctoral Position – Impact of Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway in Genome Stability and Breast Cancer (University of Pittsburgh)

Postdoctoral Position – Cancer Biology and Functional Genomics (North Carolina Central University)

Research Fellow – Breast Cancer Research (Monash University)

Research Associate – Lung and Breast Cancer Bioinformatics (University College London)

Vice President – Sales and Marketing for Breast and Colon Cancer (Genomic Health)

PhD Studentship – Signal Transduction and Cancer Research (McGill University)

Recruit Top Talent: Reach more than 50,000 potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.

Have we missed an important article or publication in Mammary Cell News? Click here to submit!

Comments or Suggestions? Email info@connexoncreative.com with your feedback.