Abstract
BackgroundThe claudin 1 tight junction protein, solely responsible for the barrier function of epithelial cells, is frequently down regulated in invasive human breast cancer. The underlying mechanism is largely unknown, and no obvious mutations in the claudin 1 gene (CLDN1) have been identified to date in breast cancer. Since many genes have been shown to undergo deregulation through splicing and mis-splicing events in cancer, the current study was undertaken to investigate the occurrence of transcript variants for CLDN1 in human invasive breast cancer.MethodsRT-PCR analysis of CLDN1 transcripts was conducted on RNA isolated from 12 human invasive breast tumors. The PCR products from each tumor were resolved by agarose gel electrophoresis, cloned and sequenced. Genomic DNA was also isolated from each of the 12 tumors and amplified using PCR CLDN1 specific primers. Sanger sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses were conducted.ResultsA number of CLDN1 transcript variants were identified in these breast tumors. All variants were shorter than the classical CLDN1 transcript. Sequence analysis of the PCR products revealed several splice variants, primarily in exon 1 of CLDN1; resulting in truncated proteins. One variant, V1, resulted in a premature stop codon and thus likely led to nonsense mediated decay. Interestingly, another transcript variant, V2, was not detected in normal breast tissue samples. Further, sequence analysis of the tumor genomic DNA revealed SNPs in 3 of the 4 coding exons, including a rare missense SNP (rs140846629) in exon 2 which represents an Ala124Thr substitution. To our knowledge this is the first report of CLDN1 transcript variants in human invasive breast cancer. These studies suggest that alternate splicing may also be a mechanism by which claudin 1 is down regulated at both the mRNA and protein levels in invasive breast cancer and may provide novel insights into how CLDN1 is reduced or silenced in human breast cancer.
Highlights
Tight junctions (TJs) serve a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis and the cell-cell interactions between epithelial cells
Sequence analysis of the tumor genomic DNA revealed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in 3 of the 4 coding exons, including a rare missense SNP in exon 2 which represents an Ala124Thr substitution. To our knowledge this is the first report of claudin 1 gene (CLDN1) transcript variants in human invasive breast cancer
We investigated whether CLDN1 transcript variants occur in human invasive breast cancers
Summary
Tight junctions (TJs) serve a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis and the cell-cell interactions between epithelial cells. These junctional stuctures block the free diffusion of lipids and proteins by regulating the flow of small ions between cells [1,2,3]. Claudin 1 forms the backbone of TJs, and has been shown to be solely responsible for the epithelial cell barrier function, i.e. separating the internal milieu from the external environment [5]. The claudin 1 tight junction protein, solely responsible for the barrier function of epithelial cells, is frequently down regulated in invasive human breast cancer. Since many genes have been shown to undergo deregulation through splicing and mis-splicing events in cancer, the current study was undertaken to investigate the occurrence of transcript variants for CLDN1 in human invasive breast cancer.
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