Circulating tumour cell (CTC) clusters have been proposed to be major players in the metastatic spread of breast cancer, particularly during advanced disease stages. Yet, it is unclear whether or not they manifest in early breast cancer, as their occurrence in patients with metastasis-free primary disease has not been thoroughly evaluated. In this study, exploiting nanostructured titanium oxide-coated slides for shear-free CTC identification, we detect clustered CTCs in the curative setting of multiple patients with early breast cancer prior to surgical treatment, highlighting their presence already at early disease stages. These results spotlight an important aspect of metastasis biology and the possibility to intervene with anti-cluster therapeutics already during the early manifestation of breast cancer.

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The Contactin-1 axonal glycoprotein (formerly F3/Contactin) plays a relevant role in cerebellar ontogenesis, as shown in Contactin-1 KO-mice and in transgenic mice misexpressing the corresponding cDNA from a heterologous promoter. Likewise, null mutant mice for the Collier/Olf1/Early B-cell family transcription factor EBF2, in which Purkinje neuron development is primarily affected, exhibit abnormalities in cerebellar corticogenesis. Here, to evaluate the contribution to the Ebf2 null phenotype of changes in the profile of Contactin-1, we study its expression in Ebf2 null mice. In addition, we explore the activation profile of the Cntn1 gene promoter upon transferring the Ebf2 mutation to transgenic mice expressing an enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter under control of Cntn1 gene regulatory sequences. In Ebf2 null mice, Contactin-1 protein expression and Cntn1 gene promoter activity are both downregulated during embryonic and early postnatal cerebellar development, both in the rostral and caudal folia, while in the latter an upregulation is observed at postnatal day 8. In vitro, vectors driving EBF1,2,3 transcription factors from a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter transactivate a Cntn1-Choline acetyltransferse (CAT) promoter-reporter construct in cotransfection assays and, accordingly, by chromatin immunoprecipitation, we show that the Cntn1 gene 5' flanking region is bound by the EBF2 transcription factor, consistent with the evidence that this region bears the cognate deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) consensus sequences. These data indicate that Contactin-1 expression is dependent upon EBF factors, suggesting that the Cntn1 gene belongs to the expanding regulatory cascade driven by these transcriptional regulators so that changes in its activation may contribute to the phenotype of Ebf2 null mutant mice.

In this study the mechanisms are explored, which modulate expression and function of cell surface adhesive glycoproteins of the Immunoglobulin Supergene Family (IgSF), and in particular of its Contactin subset, during neuronal precursor developmental events. In this context, a specific topic concerns the significance of the expression profile of such molecules and their ability to modulate signaling pathways activated through nutraceuticals, in particular polyphenols, administration. Both in vitro and in vivo approaches are chosen. As for the former, by using as a model the human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma line, the effects of grape seed polyphenols are evaluated on proliferation and commitment/differentiation events along the neuronal lineage. In SH-SY5Y cell cultures, polyphenols were found to counteract precursor proliferation while promoting their differentiation, as deduced by studying their developmental parameters through the expression of cell cycle and neuronal commitment/differentiation markers as well as by measuring neurite growth. In such cultures, Cyclin E expression and BrdU incorporation were downregulated, indicating reduced precursor proliferation while increased neuronal differentiation was inferred from upregulation of cell cycle exit (p27 –Kip ) and neuronal commitment (NeuN) markers as well as by measuring neurite length through morphometric analysis. The polyphenol effects on developmental parameters were also explored in vivo , in cerebellar cortex, by using as a model the TAG/F3 transgenic line, which undergoes delayed neural development as a consequence of Contactin1 adhesive glycoprotein upregulation and premature expression under control of the Contactin2 gene ( Cntn-2 ) promoter. In this transgenic line, a Notch pathway activation is known to occur and polyphenol treatment was found to counteract such an effect, demonstrated through downregulation of the Hes-1 transcription factor. Polyphenols also downregulated the expression of adhesive glycoproteins of the Contactin family themselves, demonstrated for both Contactin1 and Contactin2, indicating the involvement of changes in the expression of the underlying genes in the observed phenotype. These data support the hypothesis that the complex control exerted by polyphenols on neural development involves modulation of expression and function of the genes encoding cell adhesion molecules of the Contactin family and of the associated signaling pathways, indicating potential mechanisms whereby such compounds may control neurogenesis.