Identification of a novel breast-cancer-anti-estrogen-resistance (BCAR2) locus by cell-fusion-mediated gene transfer in human breast-cancer cells.

Development of anti-estrogen resistance limits the benefit of endocrine therapy of breast cancer. The mechanistic basis for resistance to the anti-estrogen tamoxifen may involve (epi)genetic alterations within tumor cells. We have initiated a random search for genes allowing estrogen-dependent ZR-75-1 human breast-cancer cells to proliferate in the presence of tamoxifen. The strategy was based on insertion mutagenesis of ZR-75-1 cells using defective retrovirus and subsequent identification of common integration sites. As an alternative approach to identify integration loci involved in anti-estrogen resistance, we have applied cell fusion. Integration regions from lethally irradiated, tamoxifen-resistant cells were transferred to hygromycin B-resistant ZR-75-1 cells. Somatic cell hybrids were established by selection for resistance to G418 (encoded by the integrated virus) and hygromycin B. Individual integration loci were thus separated among different cell hybrids and tested for their role in anti-estrogen resistance. Analysis of a panel of 29 somatic-cell hybrids revealed that tamoxifen resistance co-segregated with only 1 of the 2 integration loci present in the tamoxifen-resistant donor cell line. This locus was further identified as a common integration site in our panel of tamoxifen-resistant cell clones. Our results designate this integration site as the second breast-cancer-anti-estrogen-resistance locus (BCAR2), which most likely contains a gene responsible for the anti-estrogen-resistant phenotype in close proximity to the integrated virus. Our data also imply that individual genes can alter the estrogen dependency of human breast-cancer cells in a dominant manner in vitro.