Abstract 5345: DMBA promotes erbB-2 mediated carcinogenesis through activation of estrogen receptor and receptor tyrosine kinase pathways
Authors: Ma Zhikun , Kosanke Stanley , Carrington Morgan , Yang Xiaohe 
Published: May 2015

ErbB-2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) that is amplified/overexpressed in 20-30% of all invasive breast malignancies; it has been associated with poor prognosis and therapeutic resistance in breast cancer patients. 7,12-dimethylbenz anthracene (DMBA) is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon known for its carcinogenic effects. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of DMBA exposure on erbB-2 mediated carcinogenesis. This represents a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental assault that synergistically promote carcinogenesis. In this study, female MMTV-erbB-2 transgenic mice at 6-weeks of age were treated weekly by oral gavage with either 1.0 mg DMBA in peanut oil or vehicle alone for 6 weeks. In the control group, palpable tumors appeared at week 25, with an average latency of 36.0 weeks. All mice in the DMBA group developed mammary tumors between week 16 and 26 with an average latency of 20 weeks. By the endpoint (first tumor ∼1.5cm3), the average number of palpable tumors per mouse were 1.15 and 2 for control and DMBA groups, respectively. Lung metastasis in the DMBA group was significantly higher than control mice (40% DMBA vs. 5% control). These data show that DMBA exposure significantly promoted erbB-2 mediated carcinogenesis. Whole mount analysis showed that at 14 weeks of age there was marked expansion of the ducts, whereas lateral branching of mammary glands from DMBA mice appeared to be inhibited, suggesting that DMBA stimulates glandular growth while inhibiting differentiation in this model. Western blot analysis of mammary tissues at 14 weeks of age showed that ERα, p-ERα, cyclin D1, Bcl-2, c-myc, EGFR, erbB-2 and erbB-3 protein levels were significantly increased in DMBA treated mice, which was accompanied by increased phosphorylation/activation of erbB-2, EGFR, ERK and Akt1. These data suggest that DMBA induced activation of both ER and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) pathways. Interestingly, tumor histology between tumors from control and DMBA treated mice was similar. However, analysis of tumor karotypes from control and DMBA mice showed that tumors from DMBA mice displayed more chromosomal alterations; an addition to chromosome 4 and trisomy 5 in the control mouse, trisomy 2, trisomy 3 and a deletion to chromosome 4 were detected from tumors of the DMBA mice, suggesting that DMBA induced chromosomal instability contributed to tumor promotion in this model. Taken together, our data suggest that DMBA promoted erbB-2 mediated carcinogenesis. In addition to its well known mutational effect, DMBA induced deregulation of ER and erbB-2 pathways plays a critical role in this process.

Citation Format: Zhikun Ma, Stanley Kosanke, Morgan Carrington, Xiaohe Yang. DMBA promotes erbB-2 mediated carcinogenesis through activation of estrogen receptor and receptor tyrosine kinase pathways. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5345. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5345