期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:2001
卷号:98
期号:25
页码:14452-14457
DOI:10.1073/pnas.251547698
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:LMO4 belongs to a family of LIM-only transcriptional regulators, the first two members of which are oncoproteins in acute T cell leukemia. We have explored a role for LMO4, initially described as a human breast tumor autoantigen, in developing mammary epithelium and breast oncogenesis. Lmo4 was expressed predominantly in the lobuloalveoli of the mammary gland during pregnancy. Consistent with a role in proliferation, forced expression of this gene inhibited differentiation of mammary epithelial cells. Overexpression of LMO4 mRNA was observed in 5 of 10 human breast cancer cell lines. Moreover, in situ hybridization analysis of 177 primary invasive breast carcinomas revealed overexpression of LMO4 in 56% of specimens. Immunohistochemistry confirmed overexpression in a high percentage (62%) of tumors. These studies imply a role for LMO4 in maintaining proliferation of mammary epithelium and suggest that deregulation of this gene may contribute to breast tumorigenesis.