Functional characterization of PIK3CA as a breast cancer oncogene. Review of: 1. Breast cancer-associated PIK3CA mutations are oncogenic in mammary epithelial cells 2. The oncogenic properties of mutant p110 alpha and p110 beta phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases in human mammary epithelial cells

Citation of original article 1: S. J. Isakoff, J. A. Engelman, H. Y. Irie, J. Luo, S. M. Brachmann, R. V. Pearline, L. C. Cantley, J. S. Brugge. Cancer Research 2005; 65 : 10 992–11 000. Abstract of the original article 1: Activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of cancers. Recently, mutations in the gene encoding the p110 catalytic subunit of PI3K ( PIK3CA ) have been identified in several human cancers. The mutations primarily result in single amino acid substitutions, with >85% of the mutations in either exon 9 or 20. Multiple studies have shown that these mutations are observed in 18% to 40% of breast cancers. However, the phenotypic effects of these PIK3CA mutations have not been examined in breast epithelial cells. Herein, we examine the activity of the two most common variants, E545K and H1047R, in the MCF-10A immortalized breast epithelial cell line. Both variants display higher PI3K activity than wild-type p110 yet remain sensitive to pharmacologic PI3K inhibition. In addition, expression of p110 mutants in mammary epithelial cells induces multiple phenotypic alterations characteristic of breast tumor cells, including anchorage-independent proliferation in soft agar, growth factor-independent proliferation, and protection from anoikis. Expression of these mutant p110 isoforms also confers increased resistance to paclitaxel and induces abnormal mammary acinar morphogenesis in three-dimensional basement membrane cultures. Together, these data support the notion that the cancer-associated mutations in PIK3CA may significantly contribute to breast cancer pathogenesis and represent attractive targets for therapeutic inhibition. Citation of original article 2: J. J. Zhao, Z. N. Liu, L. Wang, E. Shin, M. F. Loda, T. M. Roberts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2005; 102 : 18 443–18 448. Abstract of the original article 2: The PIK3CA gene encoding the p110α subunit of Class IA phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) is frequently mutated in human tumors. Mutations in the PIK3CB gene encoding p110β, the only other widely expressed Class IA PI3K, have not been reported. We compared the biochemical activity and transforming potential of mutant forms of p110α and p110β in a human mammary epithelial cell system. The two most common tumor-derived alleles of p110α, H1047R and E545K , potently activated PI3K signaling. Human mammary epithelial cells expressing these alleles grew efficiently in soft agar and as orthotopic tumors in nude mice. We also examined a third class of mutations in p110α, those in the p85-binding domain. A representative tumor-derived p85-binding-domain mutant R38H showed modestly reduced p85 binding and weakly activated PI3K/Akt signaling. In contrast, a deletion mutant lacking the entire p85-binding domain efficiently activated PI3K signaling. When we constructed in p110β a mutation homologous to the E545K allele of p110α, the resulting p110β mutant was only weakly activated and allowed minimal soft-agar growth. However, a gene fusion of p110β with the membrane anchor from c-Src was highly active and transforming in both soft-agar and orthotopic nude mouse assays. Thus, although introduction of activating mutations from p110α at the corresponding sites in p110β failed to render the enzyme oncogenic in human cells, the possibility remains that other mutations might activate the β isoform.