Influence of a nonfragile FHIT transgene on murine tumor susceptibility

FHIT, at a constitutively active chromosome fragile site, is often a target of chromosomal aberrations and deletion in a large fraction of human tumors. Inactivation of murine Fhit allelessignificantly increases susceptibility of mice to spontaneous and carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis. In this study, transgenic mice, carrying a human FHIT cDNA under control of the endogenous promoter, were produced to determine the effect of Fhit expression, from a nonfragile cDNA transgene outside the fragile region, on carcinogen-induced tumor susceptibility of wildtype and Fhit heterozygous mice. Mice received sufficient oral doses of N-nitrosomethybenzylamine (NMBA) to cause forestomach tumors in >80% of nontransgenic control mice. Although the level of expression of the FHIT transgene in the recombinant mouse strains was much lower than the level of endogenous Fhit expression, the tumor burden in NMBA-treated male transgenic mice was significantly reduced, while female transgenic mice were not protected. To determine if the difference in protection could be due to differences in epigenetic changes at the transgene loci in male versus female mice, we examined expression, hypermethylation and induced re-expression of FHIT transgenes in male and female mice or cells derived from them. The transgene was methylated in male and female mice and in cell lines established from male and female transgenic kidneys, the FHIT locus was both hypermethylated and deacetylated. It is likely that the FHIT transgene is more tightly silenced in female transgenic mice, leading to a lack of protection from tumor induction.     

A mouse model of the fragile gene FHIT: From carcinogenesis to gene therapy and cancer prevention

Mouse models of tumor suppressors are increasingly useful to investigate biomedical aspects of cancer genetics. Some tumor suppressor genes are located at common fragile sites that are specific chromosomal regions highly susceptible to DNA lesions. The tumor suppressor gene FHIT, at the fragile site FRA3B, is the first fragile gene with a developed and characterized mouse knockout model. The human gene FHIT is frequently deleted in cancers and cancer cell lines of many epithelial tissues, and Fhit protein is absent or reduced in most cancers. The mouse Fhit ortholog is also located at a common fragile site, Fra14A2 on murine chromosome 14, and sustains homozygous deletions in murine cancer cell lines. The Fhit knockout mouse is, therefore, an adequate model to study human FHIT function. To establish an animal model and to explore the role of FHIT in tumorigenesis, we have developed a mouse strain carrying one or two inactivated Fhit alleles. Insights into Fhit mouse genetics that have emerged in the last 7 years, and are reviewed in the present article, allowed for development of new tools in carcinogenesis and gene delivery studies.     

A Fhit-ing Role in the DNA Damage Checkpoint Response

The FHIT gene encompasses the most active common fragile site of the human genome and is thus exquisitely sensitive to intragenic alterations by DNA damaging agents, alterations that can lead to FHIT allele loss very early in the preneoplastic phase of cancer development, before or coincident with activation of the DNA damage checkpoint. Fhit protein expression is lost or reduced in many preneoplastic lesions and in >50% of cancers, Fhit knockout mice are highly susceptible to carcinogen induction of tumors and Fhit replacement in these mice by gene therapy induces apoptosis and significantly reduces tumor burden. But learning how Fhit induces apoptosis and suppresses tumors has been a challenge because interacting proteins, effectors of Fhit signals, have not been discovered.Nevertheless, the study of Fhit deficient mouse and human tissue-derived and cancer-derived cells in vitro has led to several important conclusions: repair protein-deficient cancers are more likely to be Fhit-deficient; Fhit-deficient cells show enhanced resistance to UVC, mitomycin C, camptothecin and ionizing radiation-induced cell killing, possibly due to strong activation of the ATR pathway following DNA damage; Fhit-deficient cells show higher efficiency of homologous recombination repair, a double-strand break repair pathway in mammalian cells; Fhit protein indirectly affects S-phase checkpoint and DNA repair. Finally, results of a recent study have suggested that the DNA damage-susceptible FRA3B/FHIT chromosome fragile region, paradoxically, encodes a protein, Fhit, that is necessary for protecting cells from accumulation of DNA damage, through modulation of checkpoint proteins Hus1 and phosphoChk1. Thus, inactivation of Fhit contributes to accumulation of abnormal checkpoint phenotypes in cancer development. It will be very important to determine mechanisms employed by Fhit in modulating checkpoint pathways, and to define consequences of Fhit loss in specific preneoplastic and neoplastic tissues, to provide rationales for effective replacement or reactivation of endogenous Fhit pathways in novel therapeutic or preventive approaches.     

Epithelial protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B contributes to the induction of mammary tumors by HER2/Neu but is not essential for tumor maintenance

Protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), a well-established metabolic regulator, plays an important role in breast cancer. Using whole-body PTP1B knockout mice, recent studies have shown that PTP1B ablation delays HER2/Neu-induced mammary cancer. Whether PTP1B plays a cell-autonomous or a noncell-autonomous role in HER2/Neu-evoked tumorigenesis and whether it is involved in tumor maintenance was unknown. We generated mice expressing HER2/Neu and lacking PTP1B specifically in the mammary epithelium. We found that mammary-specific deletion of PTP1B delays the onset of HER2/Neu-evoked mammary tumors, establishing a cell autonomous role for PTP1B in such neoplasms. We also deleted PTP1B in established mouse mammary tumors or depleted PTP1B in human breast cancer cell lines grown as xenografts. PTP1B inhibition did not affect tumor growth in either model showing that neither epithelial nor stromal PTP1B is necessary for tumor maintenance. Taken together, our data show that despite the PTP1B contribution to tumor onset, it is not essential for tumor maintenance. This suggests that PTP1B inhibition could be effective in breast tumor prevention.     

Biological functions of mammalian Nit1, the counterpart of the invertebrate NitFhit Rosetta stone protein, a possible tumor suppressor

The "Rosetta Stone" hypothesis proposes that the existence of a fusion protein in some organisms predicts that the separate polypeptides function in the same biochemical pathway in other organisms and may physically interact. In Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, NitFhit protein is composed of two domains, a fragile histidine triad homolog and a bacterial and plant nitrilase homolog. We assessed the biological effects of mammalian Nit1 expression in comparison with Fhit and observed that: 1) Nit1 expression was observed in most normal tissues and overlapped partially with Fhit expression; 2) Nit1-deficient mouse kidney cells exhibited accelerated proliferation, resistance to DNA damage stress, and increased cyclin D1 expression; 3) cyclin D1 was up-regulated in Nit1 null mammary gland and skin; 4) Nit1 overexpression induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in vitro; and 5) Nit1 allele deficiency led to increased incidence of N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine-induced murine forestomach tumors. Thus, the biological effects of Nit1 expression are similar to Fhit effects. Adenoviruses carrying recombinant NIT1 and FHIT induced apoptosis in Fhit- and Nit1-deficient cells, respectively, suggesting that Nit1-Fhit interaction is not essential for function of either protein. The results suggest that Nit1 and Fhit share tumor suppressor signaling pathways, while localization of the NIT1 gene at a stable, rather than fragile, chromosome site explains the paucity of gene alterations and in frequent loss of expression of the NIT1 gene in human malignancies.     

Loss of lkb1 Expression Reduces the Latency of ErbB2-Mediated Mammary Gland Tumorigenesis,Promoting Changes in Metabolic Pathways

The tumor suppressor kinase LKB1 is mutated in a broad range of cancers however, the role of LKB1 mammary gland tumorigenesis is not fully understood. Evaluation of human breast cancer tissue microarrays, indicate that 31% of HER2 positive samples lacked LKB1 expression. To expand on these observations, we crossed STK11^fl/fl mice with mice genetically engineered to express activated Neu/HER2-MMTV-Cre (NIC) under the endogenous Erbb2 promoter, to generate STK11^−/−/NIC mice. In these mice, the loss of lkb1 expression reduced the latency of ErbB2-mediated tumorigenesis compared to the latency of tumorigenesis in NIC mice alone. Analysis of STK11^−/−/NIC mammary tumors revealed hyperactivation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) through both mTORC1 and mTORC2 pathways as determined by the phosphorylation status of ribosomal protein S6 and AKT. Furthermore, STK11^−/−/NIC mammary tumors had elevated ATP levels along with changes in metabolic enzymes and metabolites. The treatment of primary mammary tumor cells with specific mTOR inhibitors AZD8055 and Torin1, that target both mTOR complexes, attenuated mTOR activity and decreased expression of glycolytic enzymes. Our findings underscore the existence of a molecular interplay between LKB1-AMPK-mTORC1 and ErbB2-AKT-mTORC2 pathways with mTOR at its epicenter, suggestive that loss of LKB1 expression may serve as a marker for hyperactivated mTOR in HER2 positive breast cancer and warranting further investigation into therapeutics that target LKB1-AMPK-mTOR and glycolytic pathways.     

Frequent altered expression of fragile histidine triad protein in human colorectal adenomas

Fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene is involved in deletions on the short arm of chromosome 3 in various human cancers. We found that 47% of colorectal adenomas, which is a higher frequency than that of K-ras, showed altered expression of the Fhit protein by Western blot analysis. The amount of Fhit protein was inversely correlated with the degree of dysplasia. Importantly, 27% of low-grade dysplastic adenomas showed altered expression of Fhit protein. Additionally, expression of human Fhit protein in human colon carcinoma cell line SW480 exhibited a marked inhibition of growth and rendered SW480 cells highly susceptible to undergo apoptosis compared with control cells. These findings suggest that altered expression of the FHIT gene is a quite early aberration in the development of colorectal tumors and that Fhit protein may act as a tumor suppressor.     

Proteomic characterization of Her2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer cells

The receptor tyrosine kinase HER2 is an oncogene amplified in invasive breast cancer and its overexpression in mammary epithelial cell lines is a strong determinant of a tumorigenic phenotype. Accordingly, HER2-overexpressing mammary tumors are commonly indicative of a poor prognosis in patients. Several quantitative proteomic studies have employed two-dimensional gel electrophoresis in combination with MS/MS, which provides only limited information about the molecular mechanisms underlying HER2/neu signaling. In the present study, we used a SILAC-based approach to compare the proteomic profile of normal breast epithelial cells with that of Her2/neu-overexpressing mammary epithelial cells, isolated from primary mammary tumors arising in mouse mammary tumor virus-Her2/neu transgenic mice. We identified 23 proteins with relevant annotated functions in breast cancer, showing a substantial differential expression. This included overexpression of creatine kinase, retinol-binding protein 1, thymosin 4 and tumor protein D52, which correlated with the tumorigenic phenotype of Her2-overexpressing cells. The differential expression pattern of two genes, gelsolin and retinol binding protein 1, was further validated in normal and tumor tissues. Finally, an in silico analysis of published cancer microarray data sets revealed a 23-gene signature, which can be used to predict the probability of metastasis-free survival in breast cancer patients.     

Overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 is sufficient to induce tumorigenesis in transgenic mice

The cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 gene encodes an inducible prostaglandin synthase enzyme that is overexpressed in adenocarcinomas and other tumors. Deletion of the murine Cox-2 gene in Min mice reduced the incidence of intestinal tumors, suggesting that it is required for tumorigenesis. However, it is not known if overexpression of Cox-2 is sufficient to induce tumorigenic transformation. We have derived transgenic mice that overexpress the human COX-2 gene in the mammary glands using the murine mammary tumor virus promoter. The human Cox-2 mRNA and protein are expressed in mammary glands of female transgenic mice and were strongly induced during pregnancy and lactation. Female virgin Cox-2 transgenic mice showed precocious lobuloalveolar differentiation and enhanced expression of the beta-casein gene, which was inhibited by the Cox inhibitor indomethacin. Mammary gland involution was delayed in Cox-2 transgenic mice with a decrease in apoptotic index of mammary epithelial cells. Multiparous but not virgin females exhibited a greatly exaggerated incidence of focal mammary gland hyperplasia, dysplasia, and transformation into metastatic tumors. Cox-2-induced tumor tissue expressed reduced levels of the proapoptotic proteins Bax and Bcl-x(L) and an increase in the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, suggesting that decreased apoptosis of mammary epithelial cells contributes to tumorigenesis. These data indicate that enhanced Cox-2 expression is sufficient to induce mammary gland tumorigenesis. Therefore, inhibition of Cox-2 may represent a mechanism-based chemopreventive approach for carcinogenesis.     

Diadenosines as FHIT-ness instructors

FHIT is a tumor suppressor gene that is frequently inactivated in human cancer. Although the Fhit protein is known to hydrolyze diadenosine triphosphate (Ap(3)A), this hydrolase activity is not required for Fhit-mediated oncosuppression. Indeed, the molecular mechanisms and the regulatory elements of Fhit oncosuppression are largely unknown. Here, we review physiological and pathological aspects of Fhit in the context of the Ap(n)A family of signaling molecules, as well as the involvement of Fhit in apoptosis and the cell cycle in cancer models. We also discuss recent findings of novel Fhit interactions that may lead to new hypotheses about biochemical mechanisms underlying the oncosuppressor activity of this gene.     

HER-2/neu x aromatase double transgenic mice model: the effects of aromatase overexpression on mammary tumorigenesis

A majority of breast cancers are hormone-responsive, and require estrogen for growth, and respond to hormonal therapy that blocks estrogen receptor action. Breast tumors with low levels of or completely lacking estrogen receptor fail to respond to antiestrogen therapy yet require estrogen for tumor initiation. To address the importance of local estrogen in oncogene-mediated breast tumorigenesis, we have crossed MMTV-aromatase with MMTV-HER2/neu and examined the incidence of breast cancer in double transgenic mice in comparison with parental strains. Double transgenic mice show normal mammary development and express both transgenes at similar levels to that of parental strains. Tumor incidence in double transgenic mice (<5%) decreased compared to HER2/neu mice (>65%). In addition to a significant decrease in tumorigenesis, these mice expressed ER as well as high levels of ERβ along with decreased levels of cyclin D1 and phosphorylated pRb among other changes. Furthermore, experiments using THC (ER-agonist and ERβ-antagonist) clearly demonstrate the critical role of ERβ in HER2/neu-mediated tumorigenesis. These studies provide the first genetic evidence that estrogen receptor, mainly ERβ than ER and its dependent changes play an important role in regulating mammary tumorigenesis. These findings provide further evidence for development and testing of novel therapeutic approaches based on selective regulation of estrogen receptors (ER and β)-dependent actions for the treatment and prevention of breast cancers.     

Mouse mammary tumor virus c-rel transgenic mice develop mammary tumors

Amplification, overexpression, or rearrangement of the c-rel gene, encoding the c-Rel NF-kappaB subunit, has been reported in solid and hematopoietic malignancies. For example, many primary human breast cancer tissue samples express high levels of nuclear c-Rel. While the Rev-T oncogene v-rel causes tumors in birds, the ability of c-Rel to transform in vivo has not been demonstrated. To directly test the role of c-Rel in breast tumorigenesis, mice were generated in which overexpression of mouse c-rel cDNA was driven by the hormone-responsive mouse mammary tumor virus long terminal repeat (MMTV-LTR) promoter, and four founder lines identified. In the first cycle of pregnancy, the expression of transgenic c-rel mRNA was observed, and levels of c-Rel protein were increased in the mammary gland. Importantly, 31.6% of mice developed one or more mammary tumors at an average age of 19.9 months. Mammary tumors were of diverse histology and expressed increased levels of nuclear NF-kappaB. Analysis of the composition of NF-kappaB complexes in the tumors revealed aberrant nuclear expression of multiple subunits, including c-Rel, p50, p52, RelA, RelB, and the Bcl-3 protein, as observed previously in human primary breast cancers. Expression of the cancer-related NF-kappaB target genes cyclin D1, c-myc, and bcl-xl was significantly increased in grossly normal transgenic mammary glands starting the first cycle of pregnancy and increased further in mammary carcinomas compared to mammary glands from wild-type mice or virgin transgenic mice. In transient transfection analysis in untransformed breast epithelial cells, c-Rel-p52 or -p50 heterodimers either potently or modestly induced cyclin D1 promoter activity, respectively. Lastly, stable overexpression of c-Rel resulted in increased cyclin D1 and NF-kappaB p52 and p50 subunit protein levels. These results indicate for the first time that dysregulated expression of c-Rel, as observed in breast cancers, is capable of contributing to mammary tumorigenesis.