The KAT8 regulatory NSL subunit complex subunit 2 (KANSL2) is over-expressed in brain metastatic breast cancer.
Control of gene expression includes regulation by trans-acting transcription factors and cis-acting epigenetic regulation by chemical modification of histones and the DNA (1, 2). Brain metastases are a clinical problem in patients with breast cancer (3-5). We mined published microarray data (6, 7) to discover genes associated with brain metastasis in patients with brain metastatic breast cancer. We found that the gene encoding the KAT8 regulatory NSL complex subunit 2, KANSL2, was among the genes most differentially expressed in the brain metastases of patients with brain metastatic breast cancer. KANSL2 may be of relevance to the biology underlying metastasis to the brain, and it may be of relevance as a potential therapeutic target in patients with intractable disease.