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C‐terminal Binding Protein and Snail: Understanding the Roles of Metabolic Imbalance and EMT in Breast Cancer Disparities
Author(s) -
Jones Alana,
CabanUreña Ambar,
Park Sam,
GilHernández Sara,
Shin JeeHye,
Yan Tingfen,
Kabbout Mohamed,
Liang Genqing,
Byun Jung,
Gardner Kevin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.806.5
Subject(s) - snail , breast cancer , epigenetics , corepressor , biology , cancer , oncology , medicine , cancer research , repressor , gene expression , genetics , gene , ecology
In the United States, both White and Black women experience the highest incidence and mortality of breast cancer. Although the two groups have the approximately the same incidence rate, Black women experience 8% higher mortality.1 Furthermore, when compared to other races and ethnicities, Black women are the most obese population in the United States, as 57% are obese, and 82% are either obese or overweight.2 C‐terminal Binding Protein (CtBP), an epigenetic transcriptional corepressor, has been observed to potentially operate as a key regulator and sensor of the metabolic imbalance that is often associated with obesity.3 Snail (SNAI1), also an epigenetic transcriptional repressor protein, is a key regulator of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process co‐opted by cancer cells to promote tumor metastasis. Snail's overexpression is associated with poorer survival.4 CtBP is known to repress ZEB1, an EMT regulatory protein induced by Snail, but the relationship between Snail and CtBP is unknown.5 The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between CtBP and Snail and its potential role in breast cancer disparities. Tumor tissues were collected from 600 breast cancer patients, immunohistochemically stained for CtBP and Snail, and scored for their protein expression. Survival curves were generated to compare the outcomes of patients with overexpression of CtBP and Snail, and demographic data was analyzed to compare these survival trends in Black versus White women. Having observed an extremely significant synergistic relationship between CtBP2 and Snail in these survival outcomes ( Figure 1, p<0.0001), we hypothesize that CtBP2 and Snail may work together to facilitate EMT, potentially providing a strong molecular link between a modifiable risk, obesity, and racial differences in breast cancer outcomes. In this study, we compared molecular networks linking CtBP2 and Snail protein expression in breast cancer and how these networks may differ by race/ethnicity and ancestral background.