Expression of messenger RNA for amphiregulin, heregulin, and cripto-1, three new members of the epidermal growth factor family, in human breast carcinomas.
Normanno N., Kim N., Wen D., Smith K., Harris AL., Plowman G., Colletta G., Ciardiello F., Salomon DS.
The expression of amphiregulin (AR), heregulin (HRG), and cripto-1 (CR-1) mRNA transcripts was assessed in 60 human primary breast carcinoma. AR and HRG transcripts were expressed respectively in 58% and 25% of the carcinomas as measured by Northern blot analysis. CR-1 mRNA was found in 77% of the carcinomas using Reverse Transcriptase-PCR analysis. Coexpression of two or three of these peptides was observed in several specimens. There was no significant association between AR, HRG, and CR-1 expression and nodal status, EGF receptor, or c-erbB-2 protooncogene expression in these tumors. However, a significant association between AR expression and estrogen receptor positivity was observed.