Differential expression of defective in cullin neddylation 1 domain-containing 3 in cancers of the breast.
Breast cancer affects women at relatively high frequency (1). We mined published microarray datasets (2, 3) to determine in an unbiased fashion and at the systems level genes most differentially expressed in the primary tumors of patients with breast cancer. We report here significant differential expression of the gene encoding defective in cullin neddylation 1 domain-containing 3, DCUN1D3, when comparing primary tumors of the breast to the tissue of origin, the normal breast. DCUN1D3 mRNA was present at significantly lower quantities in tumors of the breast as compared to normal breast tissue. Analysis of human survival data revealed that expression of DCUN1D3 in primary tumors of the breast was correlated with recurrence-free survival in patients with basal, luminal A and luminal B subtype cancers, demonstrating a relationship between primary tumor expression of a differentially expressed gene and patient survival outcomes influenced by PAM50 molecular subtype. DCUN1D3 may be of relevance to initiation, maintenance or progression of cancers of the female breast.