Abstract 3171: Expression of PKC iota in breast cancer

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC One in nine (11%) women is expected to develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Abnormal activation of the PI3K signaling cascade is common in breast cancer. The p110α catalytic subunit of PI3K is mutated in 20-40% of breast cancers. The two most common mutations are E545K in the helical domain and H1047R in the kinase domain; these mutations render PI3K constitutively active. PKC iota is a member of atypical class of PKC family serine/threonine kinases and a downstream effector in the PI3K signaling pathway. PKC iota has been implicated in carcinogenesis and oncogenic signaling in lung, colon and ovarian carcinomas but its role in breast cancer progression is unknown. Using immunohistochemistry (IHC), we have evaluated PKCι expression and localization in breast cancer tissue microarrays (TMA). Weak PKCι staining was detected in normal breast tissue. PKCι was over-expressed in subset of breast cancers with no staining in the surrounding stroma. Positive tumor staining was mainly cytoplasmic with nuclear staining in some cases. There was no significant correlation of positive PKCι staining with tumour type. PKCι overexpression was also seen in a subset of ductal carcinoma in situ samples. In vitro, we have also shown that PKCι is over-expressed and has higher levels of phosphorylation in a subset of breast cancer cell lines when compared to mammary epithelial cell lines. Stable cell lines expressing E545K or H1047R mutations were generated in the mammary myoepithelial cell line MCF-10A by retroviral transduction. Using Western blotting, we have shown that these mutations are sufficient to increase PKCι expression and activation. These results suggest a possible mechanism for the PKCι overexpression previously demonstrated by IHC. Two structurally independent PI3K inhibitors, Wortmannin and LY294-002, inhibited PKCι phosphorylation and activation in mutant PI3K expressing cells, confirming that the PKCι activation is PI3K-dependent. These inhibitors did not inhibit the low level of PKCι activation seen in MCF10A cells expressing wild-type PI3K control, suggesting that this activation occurs by a PI3K-independent mechanism. These results demonstrate that PKCι is overexpressed in some breast cancers, and that PI3KCA mutations may drive this overexpression. These results also indicate a potential role for PKCι in breast carcinogenesis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3171.