Fragile X Syndrome Protein Linked to Breast Cancer

The Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP) has been identified as contributing to the progression of breast cancer.

The FMRP acts as a master switch controlling the levels of several proteins involved in different stages of aggressive breast cancer, including the invasion of cancer cells into blood vessels and the spread of these cancer cells to other tissues forming metastasis.

A team of scientists from VIB Center for the Biology of Disease (Leuven, Belgium) and the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy) identified high levels of FMRP in human breast cancer tissue microarrays and also examined the effects of FMRP levels in a mouse model to study breast cancer. In these mice, high levels of FMRP in primary breast cancer tumors were also linked to the spread of the cancer to the lungs and the development of metastasis.

FMRP expression was also independently analyzed on a panel of ductal carcinoma using the OncoPair INSTA-Blot (Imgenex; San Diego, CA, USA). The authors suggest that the levels of FMRP might be used as an indicator of aggressive breast cancer and could be used to predict the likelihood of the spread of cancer to other organs like the lung. In fact, the investigators found that FMRP levels correlate with the highly aggressive Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women and has a poor prognosis. It often comes back years after treatment and spreads throughout the body.

Claudia Bagni, PhD, the senior author of the study said, “Previous studies indicated that patients with Fragile X Syndrome had a decreased risk of developing cancer but little is known about the molecular events that lead to this beneficial effect. We showed that high levels of the FMRP protein in human breast tissue samples are linked to increased risk of breast cancer and the spread of the disease to other tissues throughout the body. Our results suggest that FMRP acts as a master regulator of a large group of mRNAs that are involved in multiple steps of cancer progression.” The study was published on September 16, 2013, in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

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