Myelin transcription factor 1 (MYT1) is differentially expressed in the tumors of breast cancer patients treated with trastuzumab.
Trastuzumab (Herceptin) is a monoclonal antibody targeting the extracellular domain of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) (1) utilized for the treatment of adjuvant and metastatic breast cancer (2) in the United States and worldwide. We mined published microarray and gene expression data (3, 4) to discover in an unbiased manner the most significant transcriptional changes associated with trastuzumab treatment. We identified myelin transcription factor 1, encoded by MYT1 among the genes most differentially expressed in the primary tumors of patients with breast cancer treated with trastuzumab. The primary tumors of breast cancer patients treated with trastuzumab expressed higher levels of MYT1 messenger RNA than did patients not treated with trastuzumab, and a single administration of trastuzumab was sufficient to result in differential expression of MYT1 in primary tumors of the breast, demonstrating increased expression of a zinc finger DNA-binding protein and neuronal-specific members of the LSD1 complex with the capacity to interact with Sin3B and with functions in neurogenesis (5-9) as a direct transcriptional consequence of treatment with trastuzumab.