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R Sager

Publications and source records attributed to R Sager.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Transcriptional downregulation of gap-junction proteins blocks junctional communication in human mammary tumor cell lines.

Subtractive hybridization, selecting for mRNAs expressed in normal human mammary epithelial cells (NMECs) but not in mammary tumor cell lines (TMECs), led to the cloning of the human gap junction gene connexin 26 (Cx26), identified by its sequence similarity to the rat gene. Two Cx26 transcripts derived from a single gene are expressed in NMECs but neither is expressed in a series of TMECs. Northern analysis using rat Cx probes showed that Cx43 mRNA is also expressed in the normal cells, but not in the tumor lines examined. Connexin genes Cx31.1, Cx32, Cx33, Cx37, and Cx40 are not expressed in either normal cells or the tumor lines examined. In cell-cell communication studies, the normal cells transferred Lucifer yellow, while tumor cells failed to show dye transfer. Both Cx26 and Cx43 proteins were immunolocalized to membrane sites in normal cells but were not found in tumor cells. Further analysis demonstrated that Cx26 is a cell-cycle regulated gene expressed at a moderate level during G1 and S, and strongly up-regulated in late S and G2, as shown with lovastatin-synchronized NMECs. Cx43, on the contrary is constitutively expressed at a uniform low level throughout the cell cycle. Treatment of normal and tumor cells with a series of drugs: 5dB-cAMP, retinoic acid, okadaic acid, estradiol, or TGFb had no connexin-inducing effect in tumor cells. However, PMA induced re-expression of the two Cx26 transcripts but not of Cx43 in several TMECs. Thus Cx26 and Cx43 are both downregulated in tumor cells but respond differentially to some signals. Modulation of gap-junctional activity by drug therapy may have useful clinical applications in cancer.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Cytokine dysregulation in AIDS: in vivo overexpression of mRNA of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and its correlation with that of the inflammatory cytokine GRO.

The human immunodeficiency virus establishes an intimate interaction with the immune system. The virus can use cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 (Il-1), to regulate its own expression by modifying the normal immunoregulatory network. We demonstrate that mRNA of the cytokine TNF-alpha from peripheral blood mononuclear cells is overexpressed in virtually all patients with AIDS who do not have active opportunistic infections compared with uninfected volunteers (p < 0.0001). This overexpression correlates with elevated mRNA levels of the recently discovered GRO (p < 0.05), a cytokine involved in the inflammatory response.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1991

An NF-kappa B-like transcription factor mediates IL-1/TNF-alpha induction of gro in human fibroblasts.

Normal human foreskin fibroblasts were used to examine transcriptional induction by IL-1 and TNF-alpha of the novel cytokine gro (melanoma growth-stimulating activity). Gro mRNA was expressed at levels 100-fold above background within 45 min of exposure to either IL-1 or TNF-alpha, in growing or serum-starved cells and a similar response was shown by IL-6. In contrast, as shown previously, gro mRNA was elevated only 10-fold by serum in starved but not in growing cells, similar to fos. Thus gro expression appears to be regulated by at least two signal transduction systems: a cytokine pathway, and a growth-related pathway. Three closely related gro genes (alpha, beta, and gamma) have been described. Their proximal 5' regulatory sequences presented here show close similarity in the region to -136, which includes the NF-kappa B site at -66 to -76 in gro alpha and gro gamma, and -64 to -74 in gro beta, and sequence diversity further upstream. Transient transfection of HeLa cells with CAT constructs localized the cytokine response to a region between -84 and -65 in gro beta. Gel retardation studies with FS-2 cells identified a cytokine-induced protein binding at the NF-kappa B site in all three gro genes as shown by competition studies with a pair of oligonucleotides representing wild-type and mutant sequences of the NF-kappa B binding site. Neither serum nor PMA induced a detectable gel shift at NF-kappa B or upstream to position -723. These results demonstrate conservation of the cytokine response element, NF-kappa B, in the three genes, consistent with the conservation of sequence in this region; and suggest that differential expression of the three gro genes may depend upon interactions with other sites located in the divergent upstream region.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Positive selection of candidate tumor-suppressor genes by subtractive hybridization.

A positive selection system designed to identify and recover candidate tumor-suppressor genes is described. The system compares mRNA expression of genes from normal and tumor-derived human mammary epithelial cells grown in a special medium that supports similar growth rates of the two cell types. mRNAs uniquely expressed in normal cells are recovered as cDNAs after subtraction with mRNA from tumor cells. Seven different clones, from 0.6 to 4.8 kilobases in transcript size and including both rare and abundunt transcripts, were recovered in the first 23 clones analyzed. Among the isolated clones were genes encoding the gap-junction protein connexin 26, two different keratins, and glutathione-S-transferase pi, as well as an unknown gene in the S100 family of small calcium-binding proteins. In principle, tumor-suppressor genes include two classes: class I, in which loss of function results from mutation or deletion of DNA and class II, in which loss of function is from a regulatory block to expression. A class II suppressor gene is assumed to be regulated by a different suppressor gene that lost its function by mutation or deletion. Both classes of tumor-suppressor genes may provide valuable proteins with clinical applications in cancer diagnosis or therapy. Class II suppressors may be especially useful because the normal genes are present and their reexpression may be inducible by drugs or other treatments.

Breast↗
PubMed1991

Loss of p53 protein in human papillomavirus type 16 E6-immortalized human mammary epithelial cells.

We have shown previously that introduction of the human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) or HPV18 genome into human mammary epithelial cells induces their immortalization. These immortalized cells have reduced growth factor requirements. We report here that transfection with a single HPV16 gene E6 is sufficient to immortalize these cells and reduce their growth factor requirements. The RB protein is normal in these cells, but the p53 protein is sharply reduced, as shown by immunoprecipitation with anti-p53 antibody (pAB 421). We infer that the E6 protein reduces the p53 protein perhaps by signalling its destruction by the ubiquitin system. The HPV-transforming gene E7 was unable to immortalize human mammary epithelial cells. Thus, cell-specific factors may determine which viral oncogene plays a major role in oncogenesis.

Blotting, Western↗
PubMed1991

Induction of estrogen-regulated genes differs in immortal and tumorigenic human mammary epithelial cells expressing a recombinant estrogen receptor.

Studies on estrogen receptor (ER)-positive human breast cancer cell lines have shown that estrogen treatment positively modulates the expression of the genes encoding transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF alpha), 52-kDa cathepsin-D, and pS2. To determine whether these genes would be similarly regulated by estrogens in normal human mammary epithelial cells, we stably transfected immortal nontumorigenic human mammary epithelial cells with an ER-encoding expression vector. ER-negative tumor cells were also transfected for comparison. Levels of TGF alpha and 52-kDa cathepsin-D mRNA were enhanced by estrogen treatment of both ER-transfected immortal and tumorigenic cells, demonstrating that the ER by itself is sufficient to elicit estrogenic regulation of the expression of these genes. In contrast, expression of the pS2 gene was detected only in the ER-transfected tumor cells. The ER in both cell lines is capable of recognizing the pS2 promoter, however, since estrogen enhanced the activity of an introduced pS2-CAT reporter plasmid in transient expression analyses. These and other experiments with somatic cell hybrids between the immortal cells and ER+/pS2+ MCF-7 tumor cells, where pS2 gene expression is extinguished, support the conclusion that the immortal nontumorigenic cells encode gene products that block endogenous pS2 expression. These results also imply that such repressors are not active in the tumor cells.

Breast↗
PubMed1991

Senescence as a mode of tumor suppression.

Two independent lines of experimental evidence are presented in support of the hypothesis that senescence is a normal mechanism of tumor suppression, a homeostatic device designed through evolution to limit cell proliferation irreversibly and thereby to protect the organism against cancer. One set of experiments uses normal human foreskin fibroblasts, transfected at early passage with SV40 DNA and subsequently infected with the K-ras virus. If the cells are immortal prior to infection, they become tumorigenic and make large tumors in nude mice, whereas if they are not immortal, though expressing SV40 T-antigen, they make tiny tumors that senesce in the test mouse after as many doublings as similar cells make in culture. This result demonstrates that immortalization is essential for progressive tumor growth in vivo. The second set of experiments demonstrate that normal human mammary epithelial cells can be immortalized by transfection with viral DNA from human papilloma virus 16 or 18, although these viruses have not been associated with breast cancer. The effective immortalization and other premalignant changes induced by human papilloma virus transfection are accompanied by chromosome changes that may contribute to the partially transformed phenotypes. None of the cloned or pooled transfectants have been tumorigenic in the nude mouse assay. Here, too, immortalization is experimentally separable from tumor-forming ability.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Tumor progression in four mammary epithelial cell lines derived from the same patient.

Two primary and two metastatic cell lines with distinct phenotypes and genotypes have been established from a patient diagnosed as having infiltrating and intraductal mammary carcinoma (21T series). All four lines can be cultured in the same medium, DFCI-1, which also supports long-term growth of normal epithelial cells. Therefore, we have been able to compare normal and tumor cells at the cellular and molecular levels. The mammary origin of the 21T series was confirmed by using antibodies against the human milk fat globule antigen-2 epitope. The two primary tumor lines (21NT and 21PT) are both immortal and aneuploid, although only 21NT is tumorigenic in the nude mouse assay. The two populations derived from the metastatic pleural effusion (21MT-1 and 21MT-2) each exhibit distinct characteristics in morphology and growth factor requirements. The erbB2 gene is amplified and overexpressed in all of these cell lines compared to normal epithelial cell controls. These four tumor cell lines from a single patient represent a mammary tumor progression series that has been established in long-term cell culture.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Human papilloma virus DNAs immortalize normal human mammary epithelial cells and reduce their growth factor requirements.

Human papilloma virus (HPV) types 16 and 18 are most commonly associated with cervical carcinoma in patients and induce immortalization of human keratinocytes in culture. HPV has not been associated with breast cancer. This report describes the immortalization of normal human mammary epithelial cells (76N) by plasmid pHPV18 or pHPV16, each containing the linearized viral genome. Transfectants were grown continuously for more than 60 passages, whereas 76N cells senesce after 18-20 passages. The transfectants also differ from 76N cells in cloning in a completely defined medium called D2 and growing in a minimally supplemented defined medium (D3) containing epidermal growth factor. All transfectants tested contain integrated HPV DNA, express HPV RNA, and produce HPV E7 protein. HPV transfectants do not form tumors in a nude mouse assay. It is concluded that products of the HPV genome induce immortalization of human breast epithelial cells and reduce their growth factor requirements. This result raises the possibility that HPV might be involved in breast cancer. Furthermore, other tissue-specific primary epithelial cells that are presently difficult to grow and investigate may also be immortalized by HPV.

Blotting, Northern↗
PubMed1990

Down-regulation of a calmodulin-related gene during transformation of human mammary epithelial cells.

A human cDNA library obtained from cultured normal mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) was searched by subtractive hybridization for genes whose decrease in expression might be relevant to epithelial transformation. One clone identified by this procedure corresponded to a 1.4-kilobase mRNA, designated NB-1, whose expression was decreased greater than 50-fold in HMECs tumorigenically transformed in vitro after exposure to benzo[a]pyrene and Kirsten sarcoma virus. Sequence analysis of NB-1 cDNA revealed an open reading frame with a high degree of homology to calmodulin. NB-1 expression could be demonstrated by polymerase chain reaction amplification in normal breast, prostate, cervix, and epidermal tissues. The presence of NB-1 transcripts was variable in primary breast carcinoma tissues and undetectable in tumor-derived cell lines of breast, prostate, or other origins. NB-1 mRNA expression could be down-regulated in cultured HMECs by exposure to reconstituted extracellular matrix material, while exposure to transforming growth factor type beta increased its relative abundance. The protein encoded by NB-1 may have Ca2+ binding properties and perform functions similar to those of authentic calmodulin. Its possible roles in differentiation and/or suppression of tumorigenicity in epithelial tissues remain to be examined.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Identification of three related human GRO genes encoding cytokine functions.

The product of the human GRO gene is a cytokine with inflammatory and growth-regulatory properties; GRO is also called MGSA for melanoma growth-stimulatory activity. We have identified two additional genes, GRO beta and GRO gamma, that share 90% and 86% identity at the deduced amino acid level with the original GRO alpha isolate. One amino acid substitution of proline in GRO alpha by leucine in GRO beta and GRO gamma leads to a large predicted change in protein conformation. Significant differences also exist in the 3' untranslated region, including different numbers of ATTTA repeats associated with mRNA instability. A 122-base-pair region in the 3' region is conserved among the three GRO genes, and a part of it is also conserved in the Chinese hamster genome, suggesting a role in regulation. DNA hybridization with oligonucleotide probes and partial sequence analysis of the genomic clones confirm that the three forms are derived from related but different genes. Only one chromosomal locus has been identified, at 4q21, by using a GRO alpha cDNA clone that hybridized to all three genes. Expression studies reveal tissue-specific regulation as well as regulation by specific inducing agents, including interleukin 1, tumor necrosis factor, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, and lipopolysaccharide.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Suppression of tumor-forming ability and related traits in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells by fusion with immortal mammary epithelial cells.

Somatic cell hybrids between MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and normal immortalized human mammary epithelial cells have been obtained by polyethylene glycol-mediated cell fusion. The hybrid cells are suppressed in their ability to form tumors in nude mice, as well as in traits specific to the tumorigenic MCF-7 parent: growth factor independence, tumor necrosis factor sensitivity, and pS2 gene expression. In addition, they display other characteristics of the "normal" parent, including increased expression relative to the MCF-7 cells of the genes for the extracellular matrix component fibronectin, the intermediate filament keratin 5, and the angiogenesis inhibitor thrombospondin. The levels of keratins 8 and 18 also resemble those of the nontumorigenic parent. These results provide evidence for the existence of tumor suppressor gene products in immortal mammary epithelial cells. We propose a characteristic "suppressed" tumor cell phenotype, which encompasses altered cytoarchitecture, angiogenesis capabilities, and growth factor requirements.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Keratins as markers that distinguish normal and tumor-derived mammary epithelial cells.

Keratin 5 (K5) mRNA and protein are shown to be expressed in normal mammary epithelial cells in culture and are absent from tumor-derived cell lines. To extend these findings, the full complements of keratins in normal, immortalized, and tumor cells were compared. It is shown here that normal cells produce keratins K5, K6, K7, K14, and K17, whereas tumor cells produce mainly keratins K8, K18, and K19. In immortalized cells, which are preneoplastic or partially transformed, the levels of K5 mRNA and protein are lower than in normal cells, whereas the amount of K18 is increased. Thus, K5 is an important marker in the tumorigenic process, distinguishing normal from tumor cells, and decreased K5 expression correlates with tumorigenic progression.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed1990

Genetic strategies of tumor suppression.

The evaluation of the cancer cell is a complex multigene process. Tumor suppressor genes that are lost or inactivated, as well as genes that are overexpressed, play key roles in tumor progression. The identification of overexpressed genes has been expedited by the presence of transforming genes in some animal retroviruses. However, tumor suppressor genes have been difficult to identify and isolate because of their loss or inactivation during tumorigenesis. By a variety of methods, summarized in this review, a few tumor suppressors have been cloned and characterized, and many more have been recognized indirectly. The general finding at this time is that the same tumor suppressors (and oncogenes) are found associated with many different tumors, that several different altered genes are found typically in the same tumors, and that other oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes seem to be characteristically altered in particular tumor types as well. Functions of tumor suppressor genes include the control of normal cell activities such as proliferation and differentiation as well as senescence, which is a special kind of differentiation in which cells lose their ability to divide. The genetic basis of senescence and identification of genes involved in overcoming senescence, leading to immortalization (i.e., indefinite growth potential), are important areas of current investigation. Our laboratory is engaged in senescence/immortalization studies as a result of our discovery that normal human mammary epithelial cells can be immortalized by DNA of the human papilloma virus. These new studies are summarized here.

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung↗
PubMed1989

Tumor suppressor genes: the puzzle and the promise.

Tumor suppressor genes are wild-type alleles of genes that play regulatory roles in cell proliferation, differentiation, and other cellular and systemic processes. It is their loss or inactivation that is oncogenic. The first evidence of tumor suppressor genes appeared in the early 1970s, but only within the past few years has a wealth of new information illuminated the central importance of these genes. Two or more different suppressor genes may be inactivated in the same tumors, and the same suppressors may be inactive in different tumor types (for example, lung, breast, and colon). The suppressor genes already identified are involved in cell cycle control, signal transduction, angiogenesis, and development, indicating that they contribute to a broad array of normal and tumor-related functions. It is proposed that tumor suppressor genes provide a vast untapped resource for anticancer therapy.

Alleles↗