The Sub-Cellular Localization of WRAP53 Has Prognostic Impact in Breast Cancer

PLoS One. 2015 Oct 13;10(10):e0139965. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139965. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

WRAP53 protein controls intracellular trafficking of DNA repair proteins, the telomerase enzyme, and splicing factors. Functional loss of the protein has been linked to carcinogenesis, premature aging and neurodegeneration. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of WRAP53 protein expression in breast cancer. A tissue microarray was constructed from primary breast tumors and immunostained by a polyclonal WRAP53 antibody to assess the protein expression pattern. Two different patient cohorts with long term follow-up were studied; a test- and a validation set of 154 and 668 breast tumor samples respectively. Breast cancer patients with tumor cells lacking the expression of WRAP53 in the nucleus had a significantly poorer outcome compared to patients with tumor cells expressing this protein in the nuclei (HR = 1.95, 95%CI = 1.09-3.51, p = 0.025). Nuclear localization of WRAP53 was further shown to be an independent marker of prognosis in multivariate analysis (HR = 2.57, 95%CI = 1.27-5.19, p = 0.008), and also significantly associated with better outcome in patients with TP53 mutation. Here we show that the sub-cellular localization of the WRAP53 protein has a significant impact on breast cancer survival, and thus has a potential as a clinical marker in diagnostics and treatment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Breast Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Cell Nucleus / metabolism
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Molecular Chaperones
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Prognosis
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Protein Transport
  • Subcellular Fractions
  • Telomerase / metabolism*

Substances

  • Molecular Chaperones
  • Telomerase
  • WRAP53 protein, human

Grants and funding

This work was supported by EC FP6 (LSHC-CT-2004-502983), Norwegian Cancer Society (0332), The Research Council of Norway (163027/V40), South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (2011079), and The Radium Hospital Foundation.