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BMC Cancer
Published in: BMC Cancer 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Immunohistochemical evaluation of ROCK activation in invasive breast cancer

Authors: Chih-Yi Hsu, Zee-Fen Chang, Hsiao-Hui Lee

Published in: BMC Cancer | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Two isoforms of Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase (ROCK), ROCKI and ROCKII, play an important role in many cellular processes. Despite the accumulating evidence showing that ROCK could be a potential cancer therapeutic target, the relevant tumor types to ROCK activation are not well clarified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ROCK activation status in different tumor types of breast cancer.

Results

We evaluated the immunoreactivities of phosphorylation-specific antibodies of ROCKI and ROCKII to inform their kinase activation in 275 of breast carcinoma tissues, including 56 of carcinoma in situ, 116 of invasive carcinoma, and 103 of invasive carcinoma with metastasis. ROCKII activation signal detected in nucleus was significantly correlated with tumor metastasis, while ROCKI and cytosolic ROCKII activation signals made no significant difference in that metastasis. Furthermore, nuclear ROCKII activation signal was associated with poor clinical outcome and correlated with late tumor stage, low expression of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and high Ki67 labeling index.

Conclusions

Nuclear ROCKII activation signal might contribute to the tumor metastasis in breast cancer. Differences in ROCK activation that underlie the phenotypes of breast cancer could enhance our understanding for the use of ROCK inhibitors in cancer therapy.
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Metadata
Title
Immunohistochemical evaluation of ROCK activation in invasive breast cancer
Authors
Chih-Yi Hsu
Zee-Fen Chang
Hsiao-Hui Lee
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Cancer / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2407
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-015-1948-8

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