Functional analysis of the contribution of RhoA and RhoC GTPases to invasive breast carcinoma

KJ Simpson, AS Dugan, AM Mercurio - Cancer research, 2004 - AACR
KJ Simpson, AS Dugan, AM Mercurio
Cancer research, 2004AACR
Abstract Although the RhoA and RhoC proteins comprise an important subset of the Rho
GTPase family that have been implicated in invasive breast carcinomas, attributing specific
functions to these individual members has been difficult. We have used a stable retroviral
RNA interference approach to generate invasive breast carcinoma cells (SUM-159 cells)
that lack either RhoA or RhoC expression. Analysis of these cells enabled us to deduce that
RhoA impedes and RhoC stimulates invasion. Unexpectedly, this analysis also revealed a …
Abstract
Although the RhoA and RhoC proteins comprise an important subset of the Rho GTPase family that have been implicated in invasive breast carcinomas, attributing specific functions to these individual members has been difficult. We have used a stable retroviral RNA interference approach to generate invasive breast carcinoma cells (SUM-159 cells) that lack either RhoA or RhoC expression. Analysis of these cells enabled us to deduce that RhoA impedes and RhoC stimulates invasion. Unexpectedly, this analysis also revealed a compensatory relationship between RhoA and RhoC at the level of both their expression and activation, and a reciprocal relationship between RhoA and Rac1 activation.
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