Overexpression of CC3/TIP30 is associated with HER-2/neu status in breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The human CC3/TIP30 gene is a putative metastasis suppressor gene, based on the results of experimental studies using lung, colon and melanoma cell lines. However, there is very little evidence from studies on clinical material, in support of such a role for the gene. In this study, we evaluated the expression of CC3/TIP30 in human breast cancer tissue and investigated the possible associations with the clinicopathological parameters.


METHODS
Total RNA and proteins were extracted from the frozen breast tumor and matched normal tissues. Evaluation of CC3/TIP30 expression was assessed by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and reverse phase protein array. Immunohistochemistry of CC3/TIP30 on breast tissue microarrays was also analyzed.


RESULTS
We have found that CC3/TIP30 expression is significantly associated with positive HER-2/neu status at both mRNA (P=0.023) and protein (P=0.016) levels. Immunohistochemical analysis on tissue microarrays also shows a positive correlation between CC3 expression and HER-2/neu status (P=0.0028).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest a potential link between the expression of CC3/TIP30 gene and the HER-2/neu oncogene-mediated signal pathway.These findings could not have been predicted from previous experimental studies, and suggest that CC3/TIP30 may play a complex role in breast cancer.
Zhang
Dao-Hai
DH
Molecular Diagnosis Centre, Department of Laboratory Medicine, National University Hospital, 119074, Singapore. patzdh@nus.edu.sg
Wong
Lee Lee
LL
Tai
Lee Kian
LK
Koay
Evelyn S C
ES
Hewitt
Robert E
RE
D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
D000123:Acetyltransferases; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D014157:Transcription Factors; C111246:HTATIP2 protein, human