Aberrant epigenetic and transcriptional events associated with breast cancer risk

• DOI: 10.1186/s13148-022-01239-1
• Publication Date: 2022-02-09T18:05:13Z
• Authors: Natascia Marino; Rana German; Ram Podicheti; Douglas B. Rusch; Pam Rockey; Jie Huang; George E. Sandusky; Constance J. Temm; Sandra Althouse; Kenneth P. Nephew; Harikrishna Naksh...; Jun Liu; Ashley Vode; Sha Cao; Anna Maria V. Sto...
• Keywords: Adult; Transcriptional Activation; 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; DNA methylation; Research; 610; Breast Neoplasms; DNA Methylation; Middle Aged; Risk Assessment; Normal breast; Epigenesis, Genetic; 3. Good health; Cohort Studies; Cancer risk; 03 medical and health sciences; 616; Biomarkers, Tumor; Humans; Female; Transcriptome; Genome-Wide Association Study

Abstract Background Genome-wide association studies have identified several breast cancer susceptibility loci. However, biomarkers for risk assessment are still missing. Here, we investigated cancer-related molecular changes detected in tissues from women at high risk for breast cancer prior to disease manifestation. Disease-free breast tissue cores donated by healthy women (N = 146, median age = 39 years) were processed for both methylome (MethylCap) and transcriptome (Illumina’s HiSeq4000) sequencing. Analysis of tissue microarray and primary breast epithelial cells was used to confirm gene expression dysregulation.

Results Transcriptomic analysis identified 69 differentially expressed genes between women at high and those at average risk of breast cancer (Tyrer-Cuzick model) at FDR < 0.05 and fold change ≥ 2. Majority of the identified genes were involved in DNA damage checkpoint, cell cycle, and cell adhesion. Two genes, FAM83A and NEK2, were overexpressed in tissue sections (FDR < 0.01) and primary epithelial cells (p < 0.05) from high-risk breasts. Moreover, 1698 DNA methylation changes were identified in high-risk breast tissues (FDR < 0.05), partially overlapped with cancer-related signatures, and correlated with transcriptional changes (p < 0.05, r ≤ 0.5). Finally, among the participants, 35 women donated breast biopsies at two time points, and age-related molecular alterations enhanced in high-risk subjects were identified.

Conclusions Normal breast tissue from women at high risk of breast cancer bears molecular aberrations that may contribute to breast cancer susceptibility. This study is the first molecular characterization of the true normal breast tissues, and provides an opportunity to investigate molecular markers of breast cancer risk, which may lead to new preventive approaches.