Translation factor eFF1A2 may be an oncoprotein

Recent research findings published in the open access journal BMC cancer illustrate that the tissue-specific elongation factor eFF1A2 could be an oncoprotein involved in breast cancer. EFF1A2 is usually present only in the muscle cells and neurons and is unusually present in two thirds of breast tumors. The meaning of this is that eFF1A2 could be used as a new diagnostic marker and further as a therapeutic target for treating breast tumors if its role is identified.

Catherine Abbott, Victoria Tomlinson and colleagues, from the University of Edinburgh, UK, made a study of the role of eEF1A2 in breast tumor cells at both the RNA and the protein level. The results from both these studies show that there is a moderate to high expression of eFF1A2 in two-thirds of malignant tumor cells, while there is only a scarce expression of the protein in the normal breast cells. In breast cancer cells there was a 30-fold increase in the expression of eFF1A2 in tumor cells than in the normal cells. It is also seen that over-expression is considerably more noticeable in the tumor cells which bears the estrogen receptor (ER) when compared to the tumor cells which do not bear the estrogen receptor: 18% of the tumors which did not have estrogen receptor showed a trivial expression of eFF1A2, while 63% of tumors which had estrogen receptor showed an expression of protein which was quite significant.

In recent studies it has been shown that eFF1A2 is over-expressed in cancer cells of the ovary, but in the breast cancer cells there was no expression of the protein. There is a necessity for more research to be done in order to identify its exact function in the development of breast tumors. The authors say that it is quite possible that the oncogenicity of eFF1A22 is related to its role in the synthesis of protein or to its potential non-canonical functions in cytoskeletal remodeling or apoptosis.

Did you know?
The research published in the open access journal BMC cancer illustrates that the tissue-specific elongation factor eFF1A2 could be an oncoprotein involved in breast cancer. EFF1A2 is usually present only in the muscle cells and neurons and is unusually present in two thirds of breast tumors. The meaning of this is that eFF1A2 could be used as a new diagnostic marker and further as a therapeutic target for treating breast tumors if its role is identified.