title: Overexpression of the Tpl-2/Cot oncogene in human breast cancer.
abstract: Tpl-2/Cot proto-oncogene encodes a serine threonine kinase and was initially cloned as a provirus insertion site in MoMuLV-induced T cell lymphomas in rats. Tpl-2 locus was also shown to be affected by provirus insertion in MMTV-induced mammary carcinomas in mice. The involvement of Tpl-2 in 35 human breast paired tumour specimens versus their corresponding adjacent normal tissue was evaluated. Tpl-2 was found overexpressed in 14 of the 35 breast tumours tested using a semi-quantitative RT - PCR method. Gene amplification was detected in eight out of the 14 specimens overexpressing Tpl-2, suggesting the increased number of copies of Tpl-2 gene as a possible mechanism for Tpl-2 overexpression. Significant association was found between the overexpression of Tpl-2 and stage I of the tumours, indicating that this molecular alteration may be an early event in the development of the disease. Furthermore, overexpression of Tpl-2 was associated with positive progesterone receptor status of the samples. This is the first report on the Tpl-2 oncogene linked to human breast tumours suggesting that it may be a key molecule for the study of human breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, Medical School, University of Crete, PO Box 1393, Heraklíon 71409, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sourvinos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsatsanis
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Spandidos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002879:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 10 / Q000235:genetics; D005784:Gene Amplification / Q000235:genetics; D018628:Gene Dosage; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D020930:MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D020930:MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases; C069937:MAP3K8 protein, human