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Maspin is not required for embryonic development or tumour suppression
Sonia S Y Teoh1, Jessica Vieusseux1, Monica Prakash1
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia.
Nature Communications
|January 22, 2014
Summary
Maspin (SERPINB5) is not essential for embryonic development and does not suppress tumors as previously thought. Its re-expression does not inhibit cancer progression, challenging its role as a tumor suppressor.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Maspin (SERPINB5) is recognized as a tumor suppressor frequently lost in various cancers.
- Previous studies indicated maspin knockout mice die during embryogenesis, suggesting a critical developmental role.
- Clinical data on maspin's prognostic value in cancer remain conflicting.
Purpose of the Study:
- To reconcile conflicting findings regarding maspin's role in development and cancer.
- To investigate the functional significance of maspin in vivo and in vitro.
- To re-evaluate maspin's expression patterns and prognostic implications in cancer.
Main Methods:
- Generation of conditional maspin knockout mice.
- Assessment of embryonic development and adult animal phenotypes.
- In vivo studies of tumor growth and metastasis.
- In vitro assays for cell migration, invasion, and survival.
- Bioinformatic analysis of maspin expression in cancer datasets.
Main Results:
- Maspin knockout embryos developed into overtly normal adult animals, contradicting earlier findings.
- Maspin re-expression did not inhibit tumor growth or metastasis in vivo.
- Maspin did not influence cell migration, invasion, or survival in vitro.
- Bioinformatic analysis showed maspin is not commonly underexpressed in cancer.
- Perturbations in neighboring genes, not maspin itself, may correlate with poor survival in some cohorts.
Conclusions:
- Maspin is not essential for embryonic development or overtly normal animal survival.
- Maspin does not function as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting tumor growth, metastasis, or invasion.
- The prognostic utility of maspin expression requires re-evaluation, with potential confounding effects from nearby gene alterations.
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