Gene regulation studies of aromatase expression in breast cancer and adipose stromal cells

The expression of aromatase in human breast tumors was studied using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method on 70 breast tissue specimens. An RT-PCR analysis using two oligonucleotide primers derived from exon II of the human aromatase gene revealed that aromatase mRNA was detected in all but three tissue specimens. Furthermore, primer-directed RT-PCR was performed to determine the exon I usage in aromatase mRNA in these breast tumor specimens. The analysis revealed that exons I.3 and PII are the two major exons I present in aromatase mRNA isolated from breast tumors, suggesting that promoters I.3 and II are the major promoters driving aromatase expression in breast cancer and surrounding adipose stromal cells (ASCs). Recently, the regulatory properties of a 696-base pair region that contains promoter II, and is situated immediately upstream of exon II of the human aromatase gene, were investigated. Detailed DNase 1 footprinting analysis, DNA mobility shift assays, and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) functional studies of this genomic region were performed and led to the identification of a segment (B1) that could act as a promoter (probably promoter I.3) in adipose stromal and breast cancer cells. The study further revealed that the B1 region could be divided into two domains which were designated RE1 and RE2. RE1 was found to have the promoter activity, and RE2 was found to regulate the promoter activity of RE1, but in different manners in MCF-7 cells (as an example of breast cancer cells) and in ASCs. RE2 was found to function as a positive regulatory element in MCF-7 cells and as a negative regulatory element in ASCs, respectively. It was also found that in several breast cancer cell lines, including MCF-7, the promoter activities of both promoter II and promoter I.3 were found to be suppressed by a negative regulatory element, a silencer, present in the 162 bp fragment which is located upstream from promoter II and downstream from promoter I.3. The precise position of the silencer element (termed S1) was localized by deletion mutation and DNase 1 footprinting analysis, and the silencing activity of S1 on promoter I.3 (in B1 fragment) was confirmed by CAT plasmid transfection experiments. UV crosslinking experiments are being performed to examine the regulatory proteins interacting with the silencer element. These studies serve as the basis for the further characterization of the regulatory mechanism of aromatase expression in human breast cancer and ASCs.