Poster #028, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Subtype-Specific Analysis of NF2 Expression and Cancer Stemness in Breast Cancer
Mentor: Pranabananda Dutta, PhD
Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer for women and is a genetically heterogeneous disease. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subtype of cancer cells that are believed to play a crucial role in tumor initiation, self-renewal, metastasis, therapy resistance, and recurrence. The neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2) gene, located on chromosome 22, encodes the merlin protein, a tumor suppressor that regulates cell growth. Mutations or altered expression to this gene may impair tumor suppression. The study aimed to evaluate NF2 expression in breast cancer and investigate its relationship with the mRNA stem cell index (mRNAsi), a measure of stem cell-like characteristics within tumors. Breast cancer datasets from the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics were analyzed to assess NF2 mRNA expression across patient samples. Gene expression data was examined, alongside corresponding protein expression and phosphorylated merlin (pS518) levels to identify patterns of NF2 activity. Stemness was evaluated using previously published mRNAsi scores, which were integrated into the analysis to determine correlations between NF2 expression and cancer stem cell characteristics. Subtype-specific analyses were also performed to compare NF2 expression and stemness relationships within Luminal A and Luminal B breast cancer subtypes. The analyses demonstrated that higher NF2 expression was associated with improved relapse-free survival (RFS) for Basal breast cancer subtypes, which consists of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and this association was statistically significant. Ongoing analyses are expected to further evaluate the relationship between NF2 expression, protein abundance, pS518, and mRNAsi. Based on current evidence, NF2 expression is hypothesized to be negatively correlated with the mRNA stemness index, suggesting that increased NF2 activity may be associated with reduced stem cell-like properties. Further investigation may clarify the role of NF2 in regulating breast cancer stemness and its potential as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target.