MCF-7 6A-SA5 and WT-WB1 cells untreated

TGFBR1*6A is a common hypomorphic variant of the type 1 Transforming Growth Factor Beta Receptor (TGFBR1), which has been associated with increased cancer risk in some studies. Although TGFBR1*6A is capable of switching TGF- growth inhibitory signals into growth stimulatory signals when stably transfected into MCF-7 breast cancer cells, TGFBR1*6A biological effects are largely unknown. To broadly explore TGFBR1*6A potential oncogenic properties, we assessed its impact on the migration and invasion of MCF-7 cells. We found that TGFBR1*6A significantly enhances MCF-7 cell migration and invasion in a TGF- signaling independent manner. We set up and performed a gene array using the conditions mimicking the cell migration experiments to determine which genes in the migratory pathway were differentially regulated between the MCF-7*6A cells and the MCF-7*9A (wild type transfected) cells. The gene array identified two downregulated genes in *6A compared to *9A that are involved in cell migration and invasion: ARHGAP5, encoding ARHGAP5, and FN1, encoding fibronectin-1 (FN1). We were subsequently able to use this information in further studies in the lab.

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Rosman DS, Phukan S, Huang CC, Pasche B