Expression of integrin-binding protein Nischarin in metastatic breast cancer

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the expression of Nischarin protein in primary breast cancer (PBC), and to evaluate its role in tumor metastasis. Paired specimens of breast cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues were surgically obtained from 60 patients with PBC at the Zhejiang Cancer Hospital (Hangzhou, China). Nischarin protein concentrations were determined by an ELISA assay. Breast cancer tissues exhibited a significantly lower concentration of Nischarin (5.86±3.19 ng/ml) compared with that of the adjacent noncancerous tissues (9.25±3.65 ng/ml; P<0.001). Furthermore, cancer tissue from patients with lymph node metastasis had significantly lower levels of Nischarin protein (4.69±2.40 ng/ml) than those of patients without lymph node metastasis (7.04±3.47 ng/ml; P=0.004). There was no significant difference in Nischarin protein expression levels between patients with grade I, II or III PBC (grade I, 5.44±3.57 ng/ml; grade II, 6.42±3.85 ng/ml and grade III, 5.10±1.18 ng/ml; P=0.765). The significant differences in the expression of Nischarin between: i) Cancer tissue and noncancerous tissue and ii) patients with and without lymph node metastasis, suggested that Nischarin may have a significant role in tumor occurrence and metastasis of breast cancer. Nischarin expression may therefore be used as a marker to predict the invasiveness and metastasis of PBC.

Impact of Nischarin on EMT regulators in breast cancer cell lines

“…Within the past two decades, the novel protein Nischarin has been revealed to serve as a tumor suppressor in ovarian and breast cancers (1)(2)(3)(4). Nischarin expression levels are different in breast cancer cell lines with different degrees of malignancy (4).…”

“…A decrease in the mRNA level of Nischarin is associated with an increase in cell invasiveness (2,4). In human breast tissues, the expression level of Nischarin in cancerous tissues is significantly lower compared with that in non-cancerous tissues (2)(3)(4), lower in cancer tissues with lymph node metastasis compared with those without (3), lower in increasing grades 1-3 of invasive cancer tissues (2), and lower in advanced stage breast cancer tissues compared with those in the early stage (4).…”

Breast Cancer Tumor Suppressors: A Special Emphasis on Novel Protein Nischarin

“…Analysis of human breast cancer patient tumors revealed that tissues with lymph node metastasis have significantly decreased levels of Nischarin than patients without lymph node metastasis (37). In addition, LOH studies performed using microsatellite markers in DNA samples from 18 human breast cancers and their normal tissue counterparts, revealed that LOH is seen in 50% of human breast cancer patients, which results in decreased Nischarin expression (12).…”