BACKGROUND Mucin glycoprotein 1 (MUC1) is a glycosylated transmembrane protein on epithelial cells. We investigate MUC1 as a therapeutic target in Barrett's epithelium (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) and provide proof of concept for a light based therapy targeting MUC1. RESULTS MUC1 was present in 21% and 30% of significantly enriched pathways comparing BE and EA to squamous epitheliu...

Evidence supports the upregulation of MUC1 in prostate cancer (PC). However, this has not been thoroughly investigated. We report here an association of MUC1 upregulation with PC metastasis and the development of castration resistant PC (CRPC). MUC1 expression was specifically increased in DU145 cell-derived PC stem-like cells (PCSLCs) in comparison to their non-PCSLCs counterparts. While immun...

It remains challenging to produce decisive vaccines against MUC1, a tumor-associated antigen widely expressed by pancreas, breast and other tumors. Employing clinically relevant mouse models, we ruled out such causes as irreversible T-cell tolerance, inadequate avidity, and failure of T-cells to recognize aberrantly glycosylated tumor MUC1. Instead, every tested MUC1 preparation, even non-glyco...

The Mucin 1 (MUC1) oncoprotein is aberrantly overexpressed in diverse human malignancies including breast and lung cancer. Although MUC1 modulates the activity of several transcription factors, there is no information regarding the effects of MUC1 on global gene expression patterns and the potential role of MUC1-induced genes in predicting outcome for cancer patients. We have developed an exper...

The mucin 1 (MUC1) heterodimeric protein is aberrantly overexpressed in human breast cancers and induces transformation. The MUC1 COOH-terminal subunit (MUC1-C) is targeted to the nucleus of transformed cells, where it interacts with p53 and regulates p53-mediated transcription. The present studies show that MUC1 represses activation of the p53 gene and that MUC1-C occupies the PE21 element in ...

The transmembrane isoform of mucin 1 (MUC1/TM) is a well-recognized tumor antigen, contributing to tumorigenesis and immune evasion. Although MUC1/TM has been correlated with malignancy, we have previously reported on antitumor properties and prevention of tumor development by a secreted splice variant of MUC1 (MUC1/sec). Because myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) play a critical role in ...

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is aberrantly activated in human cancer including lung cancer and has been implicated in transformation, tumorigenicity, and metastasis. One putative downstream gene regulated by Stat3 is MUC1 which also has important roles in tumorigenesis. We determined if Stat3 regulates MUC1 in lung cancer cell lines and what function MUC1 plays in ...

MUC1, an integral membrane mucin associated with the metastatic phenotype, is overexpressed by most human carcinoma cells. The MUC1 cytoplasmic tail (CT) is postulated to function in morphogenetic signal transduction via interactions with Grb2/Sos, c-Src, and beta-catenin. We investigated intracellular trafficking of the MUC1 CT, using epitope-tagged constructs that were overexpressed in human ...

Lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) is currently the predominant histological subtype of lung cancer. Despite recent advancement in targeted therapies, the average 5-year survival rate is only 15%, highlighting the need to identify previously unrecognized molecular events that propel cancer development. Herein, we showed knockdown of 14-3-3ζ suppresses cell proliferation, migration and invasion capabilit...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the best professional antigen-presenting cells to stimulate cytotoxic as well as T helper cells and are therefore appropriate candidates for establishing immunotherapy. The concept of our vaccination program is to introduce the tumor-associated antigen mucin-1 (MUC1) into DCs. Analysis of immature and mature DCs--before transducing the antigen MUC1--already demonstrate...