To analyze the involvement of p53‐dependent transcriptional activation in normal development and in response to DNA damage in vivo, we created transgenic mice with a lacZ reporter gene under the control of a p53‐responsive promoter. Five independent strains showed similar patterns of transgene expression. In untreated animals, lacZ expression was limited to the developing nervous system of embryos and newborn mice and was strongly decreased in the adult brain. γ‐irradiation or adriamycin treatment induced lacZ expression in the majority of cells of early embryos and in the spleen, thymus and small intestine in adult mice. Transgene expression was p53 dependent and coincided with the sites of strong p53 accumulation. The lacZ‐expressing tissues and early embryos, unlike other adult tissues and late embryos, are characterized by high levels of p53 mRNA expression and respond to DNA damage by massive apoptotic cell death. Analysis of p53‐null mice showed that this apoptosis is p53 dependent. These data suggest that p53 activity, monitored by the reporter lacZ transgene, is the determinant of radiation and drug sensitivity in vivo and indicate the importance of tissue and stage specificity of p53 regulation at the level of mRNA expression.

Ampli®cation or overexpression of the HER-2/neu gene in breast cancers is associated with aggressive behavior and resistance to therapeutic regimens. The molecular mechanisms that contribute to therapeutic resistance/ survival of HER-2/neu-overexpressing tumor cells have not been well de®ned. To determine if phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT signaling contributes to cell survival in HER-2/neu-positive breast cancers, we performed immunohistochemical analyses to evaluate expression of HER-2/neu and AKT in a series of 52 breast carcinomas. Elevated expression of HER-2/neu was found to correlate with overexpression of AKT2 protein and activation of AKT kinase. HER-2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer cell lines were resistant to apoptosis induced by UV treatment and hypoxia, which was suppressed in the presence of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitors LY294002 and wortmannin, indicating a link between AKT activation and stress resistance in HER-2/neu-overexpressing cells. These observations suggest that AKT signaling augments resistance to stress-induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells overexpressing HER-2/neu.

ErbB2 and EGFR are attractive oncology therapeutic targets as their overexpression in tumors predicts a poorer clinical outcome in a variety of epithelial malignancies. However, clinical results with therapeutic compounds targeting these receptors have been mixed. Therefore, there is a need for improved predictive biomarkers for these targeted therapeutics. In this study we analysed tissue microarrays of patients treated with combination chemotherapy and Herceptin for expression or phosphorylation of signalling proteins associated with erbB receptors to identify protein biomarkers that are predictive of breast cancer patient response. A comparison of expression or phosphorylation of these markers with patient outcome revealed that response to Herceptin depended not only on expression levels of erbB2 but also on expression of EGFR, expression of erbB ligands, expression of other receptors and phosphorylation of downstream proteins. Elucidating the biological effects of EGFR/erbB2 targeted therapeutics will enable patient tumor profiling to identify likely responders and the determination of biologically effective doses that allows chronic administration of these agents in order to maximise efficacy.

The relationship between terminal cell differentiation and changes in the subcellular levels of the HER-2/neu antigen was investigated in cultured human breast cancer cells: AU-565 cells (which overexpress the HER-2/neu gene) and MCF-7 cells (which do not overexpress this gene). Differentiation was achieved by treating the cells with mycophenolic acid (MPA), phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), retinoic acid (RA), or the TA-1 monoclonal antibody to the extracellular domain of the HER-2/neu protein. Ten to twenty percent of the cells in untreated, sparsely growing AU-565 cultures exhibited morphological maturation characterized by large lacy nuclei surrounded by sizable flat cytoplasms. A fraction of these cells harbored milk factors such as casein and large lipid droplets. Treatment of the AU-565 cells for 4 d with 9 microM MPA, 1.6 nM PMA, 2.5 microM RA, or 1 microgram/mL TA-1 antibody resulted in cell growth inhibition and an increase in the percentage of cells (48-97%) that exhibit a mature phenotype. MCF-7 cells were also susceptible to differentiation by MPA and RA, but to a lesser degree than the AU-565 cells. Differentiation in the AU-565 and MCF-7 cells was associated with reduced immunostaining for the HER-2/neu protein at the cell surface membrane and with a transient increased diffuse immunostaining for this protein in the cytoplasm.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of expression of the erbB/HER family of growth factor receptors, their ligand heregulin, and the two different signaling pathways p38 and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), as well as the status of HER-2 phosphorylation in tumor specimens from patients with primary breast cancer. The level of expression of these proteins was measured by quantitative immunohistochemistry combined with microscope-based image analysis in paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissue from 35 patients. The frequency of expression was: EGFR (51%), HER-2 (54%), P-HER-2 (48%), HER-3 (48%), HER-4 (57%), heregulin (48%), p38 (17%), MAPK (48%). There was evidence of associations among the coexpression of heregulin, EGFR, HER-2, and HER-3. Also, there was evidence of a positive association between P-MAPK and HER-4. HER-3 was expressed at high levels in patients younger than 50 years of age. There was a trend for expression of higher levels of HER-4 in tumors larger than 2 cm. The expression of EGFR, HER-2, heregulin, p38 and MAPK was independent of age, tumor size, number of lymph nodes involved or hormone receptor status. The HER family of growth factor receptors appear to be regulated independently in invasive breast cancer. Assessing the expression of multiple tumor markers by quantitative immuno-histochemistry is feasible. Further research is needed to determine the prognostic and predictive roles of the various associations between HER receptors, their ligands and signal transduction molecules in patients with early-stage breast cancer.