Detailed map of a region commonly amplified at 11q13→q14 in human breast carcinoma

Amplification of loci present on band q13 of human chromosome 11 is a feature of a subset of estrogen receptor positive breast carcinomas prone to metastasis. As many as five distinct amplification units have been described on 11q13. They include particularly a genomic area encompassing the GARP gene at 11q13.5→q14.1. We have reassessed our current knowledge of this region, located telomeric to CCND1 and EMS1, which is amplified in 7–10% of mammary tumors. The loose definition of the driving forces of these amplification events led us to map accurately the boundaries of the amplifiable region, and thus to contribute a physical and transcriptional map of a 3-Mb region of chromosome 11. Four new genes were placed on the regional map, namely CBP2, CLNSIA, UVRAG, and PAKl. We have narrowed the core of the 11q13→q14 amplicon to a 350-kb area encompassing D11S533, mostly on its telomeric side. The map reported here represents an indispensable step toward sequencing the entire region, and thus toward uncovering gene(s) which play(s) a critical role in breast cancer progression.