RECQL4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers

RECQL4 helicase is a molecular motor that unwinds DNA, a process essential during DNA replication and DNA repair. Germ-line mutations in RECQL4 cause type II Rothmund–Thomson syndrome (RTS), characterized by a premature ageing phenotype and cancer predisposition. RECQL4 is widely considered to be a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Arora, Arvind, Agarwal, Devika, Abdel-Fatah, Tarek M.A., Lu, Huiming, Croteau, Deborah L., Moseley, Paul, Aleskandarany, Mohammed A., Green, Andrew R., Ball, Graham, Rakha, Emad A., Chan, Stephen Y.T., Ellis, Ian O., Wang, Lisa L., Zhao, Yongliang, Balajee, Adayabalam S., Bohr, Vilhelm A., Madhusudan, Srinivasan
Format: Article
Published: Wiley 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43062/
_version_ 1848796630421078016
author Arora, Arvind
Agarwal, Devika
Abdel-Fatah, Tarek M.A.
Lu, Huiming
Croteau, Deborah L.
Moseley, Paul
Aleskandarany, Mohammed A.
Green, Andrew R.
Ball, Graham
Rakha, Emad A.
Chan, Stephen Y.T.
Ellis, Ian O.
Wang, Lisa L.
Zhao, Yongliang
Balajee, Adayabalam S.
Bohr, Vilhelm A.
Madhusudan, Srinivasan
author_facet Arora, Arvind
Agarwal, Devika
Abdel-Fatah, Tarek M.A.
Lu, Huiming
Croteau, Deborah L.
Moseley, Paul
Aleskandarany, Mohammed A.
Green, Andrew R.
Ball, Graham
Rakha, Emad A.
Chan, Stephen Y.T.
Ellis, Ian O.
Wang, Lisa L.
Zhao, Yongliang
Balajee, Adayabalam S.
Bohr, Vilhelm A.
Madhusudan, Srinivasan
author_sort Arora, Arvind
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description RECQL4 helicase is a molecular motor that unwinds DNA, a process essential during DNA replication and DNA repair. Germ-line mutations in RECQL4 cause type II Rothmund–Thomson syndrome (RTS), characterized by a premature ageing phenotype and cancer predisposition. RECQL4 is widely considered to be a tumour suppressor, although its role in human breast cancer is largely unknown. As the RECQL4 gene is localized to chromosome 8q24, a site frequently amplified in sporadic breast cancers, we hypothesized that it may play an oncogenic role in breast tumourigenesis. To address this, we analysed large cohorts for gene copy number changes (n = 1977), mRNA expression (n = 1977) and protein level (n = 1902). Breast cancer incidence was also explored in 58 patients with type II RTS. DNA replication dynamics and chemosensitivity was evaluated in RECQL4-depleted breast cancer cells in vitro. Amplification or gain in gene copy number (30.6%), high-level mRNA expression (51%) and high levels of protein (23%) significantly associated with aggressive tumour behaviour, including lymph node positivity, larger tumour size, HER2 overexpression, ER-negativity, triple-negative phenotypes and poor survival. RECQL4 depletion impaired the DNA replication rate and increased chemosensitivity in cultured breast cancer cells. Thus, although recognized as a ’safe guardian of the genome’, our data provide compelling evidence that RECQL4 is tumour promoting in established breast cancers.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:51:02Z
format Article
id nottingham-43062
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:51:02Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Wiley
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-430622020-05-04T17:39:17Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43062/ RECQL4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers Arora, Arvind Agarwal, Devika Abdel-Fatah, Tarek M.A. Lu, Huiming Croteau, Deborah L. Moseley, Paul Aleskandarany, Mohammed A. Green, Andrew R. Ball, Graham Rakha, Emad A. Chan, Stephen Y.T. Ellis, Ian O. Wang, Lisa L. Zhao, Yongliang Balajee, Adayabalam S. Bohr, Vilhelm A. Madhusudan, Srinivasan RECQL4 helicase is a molecular motor that unwinds DNA, a process essential during DNA replication and DNA repair. Germ-line mutations in RECQL4 cause type II Rothmund–Thomson syndrome (RTS), characterized by a premature ageing phenotype and cancer predisposition. RECQL4 is widely considered to be a tumour suppressor, although its role in human breast cancer is largely unknown. As the RECQL4 gene is localized to chromosome 8q24, a site frequently amplified in sporadic breast cancers, we hypothesized that it may play an oncogenic role in breast tumourigenesis. To address this, we analysed large cohorts for gene copy number changes (n = 1977), mRNA expression (n = 1977) and protein level (n = 1902). Breast cancer incidence was also explored in 58 patients with type II RTS. DNA replication dynamics and chemosensitivity was evaluated in RECQL4-depleted breast cancer cells in vitro. Amplification or gain in gene copy number (30.6%), high-level mRNA expression (51%) and high levels of protein (23%) significantly associated with aggressive tumour behaviour, including lymph node positivity, larger tumour size, HER2 overexpression, ER-negativity, triple-negative phenotypes and poor survival. RECQL4 depletion impaired the DNA replication rate and increased chemosensitivity in cultured breast cancer cells. Thus, although recognized as a ’safe guardian of the genome’, our data provide compelling evidence that RECQL4 is tumour promoting in established breast cancers. Wiley 2016-03-31 Article PeerReviewed Arora, Arvind, Agarwal, Devika, Abdel-Fatah, Tarek M.A., Lu, Huiming, Croteau, Deborah L., Moseley, Paul, Aleskandarany, Mohammed A., Green, Andrew R., Ball, Graham, Rakha, Emad A., Chan, Stephen Y.T., Ellis, Ian O., Wang, Lisa L., Zhao, Yongliang, Balajee, Adayabalam S., Bohr, Vilhelm A. and Madhusudan, Srinivasan (2016) RECQL4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers. Journal of Pathology, 238 (4). pp. 495-501. ISSN 1096-9896 RECQL4 helicase; breast cancer; tumour suppressor; oncogene http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/path.4681/abstract doi:10.1002/path.4681 doi:10.1002/path.4681
spellingShingle RECQL4 helicase; breast cancer; tumour suppressor; oncogene
Arora, Arvind
Agarwal, Devika
Abdel-Fatah, Tarek M.A.
Lu, Huiming
Croteau, Deborah L.
Moseley, Paul
Aleskandarany, Mohammed A.
Green, Andrew R.
Ball, Graham
Rakha, Emad A.
Chan, Stephen Y.T.
Ellis, Ian O.
Wang, Lisa L.
Zhao, Yongliang
Balajee, Adayabalam S.
Bohr, Vilhelm A.
Madhusudan, Srinivasan
RECQL4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers
title RECQL4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers
title_full RECQL4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers
title_fullStr RECQL4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers
title_full_unstemmed RECQL4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers
title_short RECQL4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers
title_sort recql4 helicase has oncogenic potential in sporadic breast cancers
topic RECQL4 helicase; breast cancer; tumour suppressor; oncogene
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43062/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43062/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43062/