Focal amplification and oncogene dependency of GAB2 in breast cancer
ONCOGENE
Authors: Bocanegra, M.; Bergamaschi, A.; Kim, Y. H.; Miller, M. A.; Rajput, A. B.; Kao, J.; Langerod, A.; Han, W.; Noh, D-Y; Jeffrey, S. S.; Huntsman, D. G.; Borresen-Dale, A-L; Pollack, J. R.
Abstract
DNA amplifications in breast cancer are frequent on chromosome 11q, in which multiple driver oncogenes likely reside in addition to cyclin D1 (CCND1). One such candidate, the scaffolding adapter protein, GRB2-associated binding protein 2 (GAB2), functions in ErbB signaling and was recently shown to enhance mammary epithelial cell proliferation, and metastasis of ERBB2 (HER2/neu)-driven murine breast cancer. However, the amplification status and function of GAB2 in the context of amplification remain undefined. In this study, by genomic profiling of 172 breast tumors, and fluorescence in situ hybridization validation in an independent set of 210 scorable cases, we observed focal amplification spanning GAB2 (11q14.1) independent of CCND1 (11q13.2) amplification, consistent with a driver role. Further, small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of GAB2 in breast cancer lines (SUM52, SUM44PE and MDA468) with GAB2 amplification revealed a dependency on GAB2 for cell proliferation, cell-cycle progression, survival and invasion, likely mediated through altered phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. GAB2 knockdown also reduced proliferation and survival in a cell line (BT474) with ERBB2 amplification, consistent with the possibility that GAB2 can function downstream of ERBB2. Our studies implicate focal amplification of GAB2 in breast carcinogenesis, and underscore an oncogenic role of scaffolding adapter proteins, and a potential new point of therapeutic intervention. Oncogene (2010) 29, 774-779; doi: 10.1038/onc.2009.364; published online 2 November 2009
The GAB2 Gene and the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: Replication and Meta-Analysis
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
Authors: Ikram, M. Arfan; Liu, Fan; Oostra, Ben A.; Hofman, Albert; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Breteler, Monique M. B.
Abstract
Background: Recently, GAB2 has been suggested to modify the risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) among APOE epsilon 4 carriers. However, replication data are inconsistent. Methods: In a population-based cohort study (n = 5507; age > 55) with 443 incident AD cases, we investigated the association between rs4945261 and AD. Because we used high-density genotyping, we also investigated other polymorphisms within and around GAB2 and performed a meta-analysis with published studies. Results: We found that rs4945261 was associated with AD among APOE epsilon 4 carriers (p = .02) but not among noncarriers (p = .26). Fifteen of the 20 remaining polymorphisms within GAB2 and several polymorphisms in the 250kbp-region surrounding GAB2 were also associated with AD among carriers and only one among noncarriers. For rs2373115, meta-analysis yielded an odds ratio of 1.58 (1.17-2.14) with p = 3.0*10(-3) among carriers and 1.09 (.97-1.23) with p = .16 among noncarriers. For rs4945261, the pooled odds ratio was 1.75 (1.21-2.55) with p = 3.0*10(-3) among carriers and 1.20 (1.01-1.41) with p = .03 among noncarriers. Conclusions: We found GAB2 to be associated with AD. Furthermore, the meta-analysis also suggests that GAB2 modifies the risk of AD in APOE epsilon 4 carriers.