17 beta-estradiol-regulated expression of protein tyrosine phosphatase gamma gene in cultured human normal breast and breast cancer cells.

[BACKGROUND] Protein tyrosine phosphatase gamma (PTP gamma) has been implicated as a potential tumor suppressor gene in kidney and lung adenocarcinomas. We have previously shown that PTP gamma mRNA expression levels are lower in DES-induced kidney tumors than in normal kidneys of Syrian hamsters. The goals of the present study were to determine if PTP gamma mRNA is present in both normal and cancerous human breast cells, and to investigate the estrogenic regulation of PTP gamma mRNA expression in these cell types.

[METHODS] Primary cultured human breast cells derived from surgical specimens of mammoplasty and breast cancer patients, as well as human breast cancer cell lines were used for the study. RT-PCR and RNase protection assay was utilized to detect and quantify levels of PTP gamma mRNA among the cell types used and between control and 17 beta-estradiol (E2)-treated cells. Transient transfection of human estrogen receptor (ER) into MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells was performed to establish the role of ER in the regulation of PTP gamma mRNA expression.

[RESULTS] The results show that PTP gamma mRNA is expressed in primary cultured human breast cells isolated from mammoplasty and breast cancer patients, as well as in human cancer cell lines, and that E2 significantly inhibits PTP gamma expression in ER-positive human breast cancer cells via an ER-mediated mechanism. We show that PTP gamma mRNA levels are lower in human breast cancer cells than in normal human breast cells. Furthermore, we report that PTP gamma mRNA expression is inhibited by E2 in a dose-dependent manner in primary cultured breast cells. After treatment with 20 nM E2 for 24 hours, PTP gamma mRNA was significantly suppressed in primary cultured cancerous and non-cancerous cells from breast cancer patients, as well as in the ER-positive MCF-7 cell line by 50%, 85%, and 66%, respectively. In contrast, the PTP gamma mRNA expression levels did not change in similarly treated ER-negative MDA-MB-231 cells. Sensitivity to E2-induced suppression could be restored (94% inhibition) by transfecting MDA-MB-231 cells with an ER expression plasmid.

[CONCLUSIONS] Our results are the first to suggest that PTP gamma is a potential estrogen-regulated tumor suppressor gene in human breast cancer which may play an important role in neoplastic processes of human breast epithelium.