9353

SLIT2

SLIL3|Slit-2;slit homolog 2 (Drosophila);SLIT2;slit homolog 2 (Drosophila)

slit homolog 2 protein

4p15.2

protein-coding

Slit2 plays a vital role in axon guidance by signaling through Robo receptors. Recent evidence suggests that Slit2 protein may function in other settings because human and Xenopus Slit2 has been shown to inhibit leukocyte chemotaxis. SLIT2 protein is a putative ligand for the ROBO receptors. We recently demonstrated that ROBO1 is inactivated by promoter region hypermethylation in <20% of human cancers; furthermore, tumor suppressor activity has not been shown. Thus, the importance of ROBO1 inactivation in human cancer is uncertain. Therefore, we investigated the status of SLIT2 located at 4p15.2 in lung and breast cancers. Although somatic SLIT2 mutations were not detected, epigenetic inactivation was common. SLIT2 promoter methylation was detected in 59% of breast cancer, 77% of non-small cell lung cancer, and 55% of small cell lung cancer cell lines. In these tumor lines, SLIT2 expression was restored by treatment with a demethylating agent. SLIT2 promoter methylation was detected in 43% of breast cancer, 53% of non-small cell lung cancer, and 36% of small cell lung cancer primary tumors. The majority of methylated tumors demonstrated allelic loss at 4p15.2. In addition, SLIT2 expression was down-regulated in methylated breast tumors, relative to normal control, as demonstrated by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR. Overexpression of SLIT2 suppressed >70% of colony growth in each of three breast tumor lines (with either absent or low SLIT2 expression). Because SLIT2 is primarily a secreted protein, SLIT2-conditioned medium suppressed the growth of several breast cancer lines (with absent or weak SLIT2expression) by 26-51% but had no significant effect on a breast tumor cell line that expresses normal levels of SLIT2. These findings demonstrate that SLIT2 is frequently inactivated in lung and breast cancer by promoter region hypermethylation and allele loss and is an excellent candidate for the lung and breast tumor suppressor gene previously mapped to 4p15.2.

We have shown recently that SLIT2 has tumor suppressor activity and that it is epigenetically silenced in >40% of lung and breast tumors. In this study, we have analyzed the methylation status of SLIT2 in primary colorectal cancers and matching normal colorectal mucosa. SLIT2 promoter region methylation was found in 23 (72%) of 32 primary colorectal cancers. In contrast, normal colorectal mucosa from the same patients exhibited significantly lower levels of SLIT2 promoter region hypermethylation. SLIT2 methylation was reversed and expression restored by treating colorectal tumor cell lines with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine. Loss of heterozygosity at D4S1546 marker, which maps within 100 kb of the SLIT2 gene, was observed in 39% of the methylated tumors. Furthermore, SLIT2 epigenetic silencing was independent of ROBO1/p16/RASSF1A hypermethylation. The presence of SLIT2 methylation was also independent of the presence of K-RAS mutations. Ectopic expression of SLIT2 diminished the ability to form colonies in two colorectal tumor cell lines. In addition, conditioned medium from SLIT2-transfected COS-7 cells reduced cell growth and induced apoptosis in SW48 colorectal tumor cell line. In conclusion, SLIT2 is an excellent candidate tumor suppressor gene for colorectal cancer.

The aim of this study was to locate the candidate tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) loci in the chromosomal 4p15-16, 4q22-23 and 4q34-35 regions associated with the development of uterine cervical carcinoma (CA-CX). Deletion mapping of the regions by microsatellite markers identified six discrete areas with high frequency of deletions, viz. 4p16.2 (D1: 40%), 4p15.31 (D2: 35-38%), 4p15.2 (D3: 37-40%), 4q22.2 (D4: 34%), 4q34.2-34.3 (D5: 37-59%) and 4q35.1 (D6: 40-50%). Significant correlation was noted among the deleted regions D1, D2 and D3. The deletions in D1, D2, D5 and D6 regions are suggested to be associated with the cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and deletions in the D2, D3, D5 and D6 regions seems to be associated with progression of CA-CX. The deletions in the D2 and D6 regions showed significant prognostic implications (P = 0.001; 0.02). The expression of the candidate TSG SLIT2 mapped to D2 region gradually reduced from normal cervix uteri -->CIN --> CA-CX. SLIT2 promoter hypermethylation was seen in 28% CIN samples and significantly increased with tumor progression (P = 0.04). Significant correlation was seen between SLIT2 deletion and its promoter methylation (P = 0.001), indicating that both these phenomena could occur simultaneously to inactivate this gene. Immunohistochemical analysis showed reduced expression of SLIT2 in cervical lesions and CA-CX cell lines. Although no mutation was detected in the SLIT2 promoter region (-432 to + 55 bp), CC and AA haplotypes were seen in -227 and -195 positions, respectively. Thus, it indicates that inactivation of SLIT2-ROBO1 signaling pathway may have an important role in CA-CX development.

SLIT-2 is considered as a candidate tumor suppressor gene, because it is frequently inactivated in various cancers due to hypermethylation of its promoter region and allelic loss. However, the exact mechanism of its tumor-suppressive effect has not been elucidated. Here, we observed that Slit-2-overexpressing breast cancer cells exhibited decreased proliferation and migration capabilities compared with control cells under in vitro conditions. These results were confirmed in vivo in mouse model systems. Mice injected with MCF-7/Slit-2 cells showed a 60-70% reduction in tumor size compared with mice injected with MCF-7/VC cells both in the absence and presence of estrogen. Upon further elucidation, we observed that Slit-2 mediates the tumor-suppressive effect via a coordinated regulation of the beta-catenin and PI3K signaling pathways and by enhancing beta-catenin/E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion. Our study for the first time reveals that Slit-2-overexpressing breast cancer cells exhibit tumor suppressor capabilities through the novel mechanism of beta-catenin modulation.