• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11.1-11.5
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• 2023

Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, and advanced breast cancer with metastases is incurable mainly with currently available therapies. Therefore, it is essential to understand molecular characteristics during the progression of breast carcinogenesis. Here, we report a dataset of whole genomes from the human mammary epithelial cell system derived from a reduction mammoplasty specimen. This system comprises pre-stasis 184D cells, considered normal, and seven cell lines along cancer progression series that are immortalized or additionally acquired anchorage-independent growth. Our analysis of the whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data indicates that those seven cancer progression series cells have somatic mutations whose number ranges from 8,393 to 39,564 (with an average of 30,591) compared to 184D cells. These WGS data and our mutation analysis will provide helpful information to identify driver mutations and elucidate molecular mechanisms for breast carcinogenesis.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.719-723
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• 2012

A close association between the obesity hormone leptin and breast cancer progression has been suggested. The present study investigated the molecular mechanism for enhanced leptin expression in breast cancer cells and its functional significance in breast cancer aggressiveness. We examined whether leptin expression level is affected by the oncoprotein human epidermal growth factor receptor2 (HER2), which is overexpressed in ~30% of breast tumors. Here, we report, for the first time, that HER2 induces transcriptional activation of leptin in MCF10A human breast epithelial cells. We also showed that p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling was involved in leptin expression induced by HER2. We showed a crucial role of leptin in the invasiveness of HER2-MCF10A cells using an siRNA molecule targeting leptin. Taken together, the results indicate a molecular link between HER2 and leptin, providing supporting evidence that leptin represents a target for breast cancer therapy.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.170.2-170.2
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• 2003

Ras expression has been suggested as a marker for tumor aggressiveness of breast cancer, including the degrees of invasion and tumor recurrence. We previously showed that p38 MAPK is a key signaling molecule differentially regulated by H-ras and N-ras, leading to H-ras-specific cell invasive and migrative phenotypes in human breast epithelial cells (Cancer Res: 63, 5454-5461, 2003). In this study, we further investigated the role of p38 MARK pathway in the induction of metastatic potential in MCF10A cells as a "gain of function" study. (omitted)

• Toxicological Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.123-127
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• 1998

BRCA1 is a tumor suppresser gene in familial cases of breast cancer. It has been controversial whether the subcellular localization of BRCA1 is located in nuclei or cytoplasm in normal human breast cells. We found that a p220 protein was expressed in Type II Normal human breast epithelial cells (NHBEC) but not in Type I NHBEC in Western blot analysis using the 17F8 (3A2) antibody. Immunostaining using the same antibody revealed positive staining in nuclei, cytoplasm and perinuclei of Type II cells and negative staining in Type I NHBEC. The p220 protein, however, was expressed in SV40 immortalized Type I NHBEC and tumorigenic cells derived from them after x-ray and neu oncogene treatment. The subcelluar localization was mostly cytoplasmic and punctate in the nuclei. The breast carcinoma cell lines, MCF-7 and T47D, also expressed the p220 protein. Using RT-PCR, we observed the expression of BRCA1 mRNA in both Type I and Type II NHBEC. This result indicated that there might be mechanisms involved in post-translational or translational regulation of BRCA1 gene. It is speculated that the absence of BRCA1 protein expression in Type I NHBEC might playa role in their susceptibility to neoplastic transformation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.8
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• pp.535-539
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• 2009

Voltage-gated $K^+$ (Kv) channels are widely expressed in the plasma membranes of numerous cells such as epithelial cells. Recently, it has been demonstrated that Kv channels are associated with the proliferation of several types of cancer cells. Specifically, Kv1.3 seems to be involved in cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis. In the present study, we examined the expression of Kv1.3 in immortalized and tumorigenic human mammary epithelial cells. We also evaluated the expression level of Kv1.3 in each stage of breast cancer using mRNA isolated from breast cancer patients. In addition, treatment with tetraethylammonium, a Kv channel blocker, suppressed tumorigenic human mammary epithelial cell proliferation. Therefore, Kv1.3 may serve as a novel molecular target for breast cancer therapy while its stage-specific expression pattern may provide a potential diagnostic marker for breast cancer development.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.141-141
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• 2003

Ras expression has been suggested as a marker for tumor aggressiveness of breast cancer, including the degrees of invasion and tumor recurrence. We previously showed that p38 MAPK is a key signaling molecule differentially regulated by H-ras and N-ras, leading to H-ras-specific cell invasive and migrative phenotypes in human breast epithelial cells (Cancer Res.: 63, 5454-5461, 2003).(omitted)

• Toxicological Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.569-575
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• 1998

One of the most frequent dejects in human cancer is the uncontrolled activation of the ms-signaling pathways. Significant evidence has accumulated to directly implicate members of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in tumor invasion and metastasis formation. We have previously shown that MMP-9 expression was significantly enhanced in the ras-tranfected HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells at the mRNA level. In the present study, we investigated the roles of MMP-2 and -9 on the H-ras-induced invasive phenotypes of MCF 10A human breast epithelial cells and HT 1080 human fibrosarcoma cells. We show that H-ras is able to induce or enhance a signaling pathway leading to the enhancement of an invasive phenotype in both MCF10A and HT1080 cells as determined by matrigel invasion assay. We then examined the effect of H-ras activation on the expression of MMP-2 and -9 by measuring enzymatic activities and mRNA levels. Our data clearly demonstrated that H-ras prominently induces expression of MMP-2 in MCF10A cells, while it efficiently up regulates MMP-9 in HT1080 cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that the correlation between ras-mediated invasiveness and enhanced expression of MMPs may be cell type-specific: MMP-9 is closely associated with the invasive phenotype induced by ras activation in fibrosarcoma cells, whereas MMP-2 is more likely associated with it in epithelial cells.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.416-424
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• 2008

In an effort to elucidate the differential actions of blueberry(BB) in both normal and cancer cells, we utilized human breast cell lines to assess the accumulation of radical oxygen species(ROS) and ROS-associated apoptosis in both human normal breast epithelial(MCF10A) and breast cancer(MCF7) cells. BB extract was added to the cultures at a final concentration of $20{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ for 0(control), 6, 12, and 24 hr intervals. The MCF10A cells evidenced no marked ROS accumulation in the presence of BB, whereas the MCF7 cells evidenced clear ROS accumulation upon BB treatment from 12 hours forward. The number of dying or dead cells did not increase in the BB-treated MCF10A cell groups, whereas that number increased profoundly from 12 hr forward. Furthermore, the expression levels of certain stress-related, and pro- and antiapoptotic gene products evidenced differential responses to BB treatment between the MCF10A and MCF7 cell groups. These results indicate that the components of BB extract differentiate cancer cells by not preventing ROS accumulation within cells and by inducing ROS-associated cell death in cancer cells. However, no marked ROS accumulation or induction of cell death was noted in the normal breast epithelial cells. The fact that BB extract exerted a differential effect on cancer cells opens further directions of research regarding the specific components that exert the differential BB-mediated effects in the selective prevention of normal cells and therapy for cancer tissues in the physiological body.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.327.3-328
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• 2002

Transforming growth factor-${\beta}$ (TGF-${\beta}$), a hormonally active polypeptide found in normal and transformed tissues. regulates cellular growth and phenotyphic plasticity. We have previously shown that H-ras. but not N-ras. induces invasive phenotype in MCF10A human breast epithelial cells. In this study. we wished to examine the effect of TGF-${\beta}$ on H-ras-induced invasion and motility in MCFI 10A cells by performing in vitro invasion assay and wound migration assay. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2002.11b
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• pp.142-142
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• 2002

Many studies have identified the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) as a key regulator for various cellular functions including cell survival, growth and motility. We have previously shown that H-ras, but not N-ras, induces invasiveness and motility in human breast epithelial cells (MCF10A), while both H-ras and N-ras induce transformed phenotype.(omitted)