Question

This is the gene expression analysis of actin and EGFR in breast cancer What do the images represent? Describe axis. What can you tell about the importance of actin and EGFR genes in breast cancer?

Answer 1

Gene expression analysis of actin and EGFR in breast cancer has shown the EGFR( epidermal growth factor receptor) overexpression in case of breast cancer. The Y-axis represents the mRNA level expression.

Importance of EGFR genes in breast cancer: overexpression of EGFR genes in breast cancer cases are related to large tumor size, poor differentiation and poor clinical outcomes. The EGFR receptor involving signalling pathways are mediated by PI3 Kinase, Ras-Raf-MAPK, JNK and PLC-y and the ligand which bind to these receptors promote invasion and angiogenesis.

Actin gene is used as a reference gene or protein to quantify the expression levels in tumors. The expression of actin gene is found to be downregulated in the above gene expression analysis image.

The abnormal expression and polymerisation of actin lead to changes in the cytoskeleton and result in invasiveness and metastatis of breast cancer. The downregulation of the actin gene expression is related to the development of breast cancer and may serve as a potential biomarker for diagnosis.