title: Expression of the Carboxy-Terminal Portion of MUC16/CA125 Induces Transformation and Tumor Invasion.
abstract: The CA125 antigen is found in the serum of many patients with serous ovarian cancer and has been widely used as a disease marker. CA125 has been shown to be an independent factor for clinical outcome in this disease. In The Cancer Genome Atlas ovarian cancer project, MUC16 expression levels are frequently increased, and the highest levels of MUC16 expression are linked to a significantly worse survival. To examine the biologic effect of the proximal portion of MUC16/CA125, NIH/3T3 (3T3) fibroblast cell lines were stably transfected with the carboxy elements of MUC16. As few as 114 amino acids from the carboxy-terminal portion of MUC16 were sufficient to increase soft agar growth, promote matrigel invasion, and increase the rate of tumor growth in athymic nude mice. Transformation with carboxy elements of MUC16 was associated with activation of the AKT and ERK pathways. MUC16 transformation was associated with up-regulation of a number of metastases and invasion gene transcripts, including IL-1β, MMP2, and MMP9. All observed oncogenic changes were exclusively dependent on the extracellular "ectodomain" of MUC16. The biologic impact of MUC16 was also explored through the creation of a transgenic mouse model expressing 354 amino acids of the carboxy-terminal portion of MUC16 (MUC16c354). Under a CMV, early enhancer plus chicken β actin promoter (CAG) MUC16c354 was well expressed in many organs, including the brain, colon, heart, kidney, liver, lung, ovary, and spleen. MUC16c354 transgenic animals appear to be viable, fertile, and have a normal lifespan. However, when crossed with p53-deficient mice, the MUC16c354:p53+/- progeny displayed a higher frequency of spontaneous tumor development compared to p53+/- mice alone. We conclude that the carboxy-terminal portion of the MUC16/CA125 protein is oncogenic in NIH/3T3 cells, increases invasive tumor properties, activates the AKT and ERK pathways, and contributes to the biologic properties of ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Thapi D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Huasong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Xiujun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sahityasri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thapi
authors.affiliation: Computational Biology Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nikolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nestor
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rosales
authors.affiliation: Tri-Institutional Laboratory of Comparative Pathology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sebastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monette
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hyman
authors.affiliation: Gynecology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Solit
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Spriggs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018394:CA-125 Antigen; C451759:MUC16 protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt