Hybrid GenConnect Genomics Project at its new location at Park Plaza Medical Center in Houston Texas is looking at the hTERT Gene for Breast Cancer
hTERT (human telomerase reverse transcriptase) gene is the rate-limiting determinant of telomerase reactivation. The GenConnect study aims to quantitatively measure the expression of hTERT mRNA in human breast cancer, adjacent non-cancerous tissue (ANCT) and benign breast lesions, examine the association between hTERT and the clinicopathological characteristics of the cancer specimens and to explore the relationship between c-Myc and hTERT expressions. GenConnect extracted RNA from 49 breast carcinomas, 46 matched ANCT, and eight fibroadenomas. hTERT and c-Myc mRNA expressions were estimated by reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) and Taqman methodology.
Hybrid GenConnect Genomics R&D shows that Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among American women. African American (AA) women are more likely to die from breast cancer than Caucasian (CAU) women revealing a clear disparity between AA women and women of other ethnicities. Genetic Data collected by Hybrid GenConnect and others reveal that although AA women show a lower incidence of breast cancer than CAU women, AA women tend to have larger, more aggressive tumors, and have a lower 5-year survival rate than their CAU, Hispanic, Asian and Native American counterparts. Importantly, AA women are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other ethnic group. While socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors are thought to contribute to these disparities, little is known as to whether biological differences may exist between CAU and AA women with breast cancer. To determine whether biological factors contribute to differential cellular responses in AA and CAU women, triple-negative breast cancer cells from AA and CAU women were cultured and treated with dietary bioactive compounds (−)- epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and sulforaphane (SFN), both of which are known to actively repress breast cancer. Preliminary findings reveal differential RNA expression of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (hTERT) in AA and CAU cells. Additionally, AA cells showed differences in responsiveness to ECGG and SFN treatments when compared to CAU cells. These results support
the hypothesis that biological differences may contribute to the disparity among AA and CAU women with breast cancer.
Given Treatment of A431 cells with green tea polyphenols and its components, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, epigallocatechin, and epicatechin-3-gallate, resulted in the formation of internucleosomal DNA fragments, characteristic of apoptosis. Treatment with epigallocatechin- 3-gallate also resulted in apoptosis in HaCaT, L5178Y, and DU145 cells, but not in NHEK. Confocal microscopy and flow cytometry confirmed the findings. The DNA cell cycle analysis showed that in A431 cells, epigallocatechin- 3-gallate treatment resulted in arrest in the G0−G1 phase of the cell cycle and a dose-dependent apoptosis. Conclusions: Green tea may protect against cancer by causing cell cycle arrest and inducing apoptosis. It needs to be evaluated in human trials.
Given Treatment sulforaphane, a natural component of broccoli and other brassica vegetables, reduces the growth of breast cancer stem cells and impairs their viability. The effects of sulforaphane on breast cancer stem cells in the laboratory were evaluated using various methods. Sulforaphane was found to reduce the stem cell population (as measured by a stem cell marker) by 65% to 80% in human breast cancer cells. In an additional experiment, mice were implanted with breast cancer xenografts and the tumors were treated directly with sulforaphane. The impact of the treatment was assessed in part by measuring tumor growth upon cell reimplantation into a second group of mice. Daily injection with 50 mg/kg sulforaphane for two weeks was found to reduce the number of stem cells by more than 50% in the xenograft tumors. Sulforaphane's ability to eliminate breast cancer stem cells appeared to prevent tumor growth after the reimplantation of primary tumor cells into the second group of mice. The authors conclude that sulforaphane inhibits breast cancer stem cells and that the findings warrant further clinical evaluation.
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