Insertional mutagenesis identifies drivers of a novel oncogenic pathway in invasive lobular breast carcinoma

Jos Jonkers, Lodewyk Wessels and colleagues use a Sleeping Beauty transposon mutagenesis screen to identify genes required for invasive lobular breast carcinoma formation (ILC) in mice. They find recurrent and mutually exclusive insertions in Myh9 , Ppp1r12a , Ppp1r12b and Trp53bp2 , which are implicated in the actin cytoskeleton regulation pathway and have been found to be altered in human ILC breast cancer. Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common breast cancer subtype and accounts for 8–14% of all cases. Although the majority of human ILCs are characterized by the functional loss of E-cadherin (encoded by CDH1 ), inactivation of Cdh1 does not predispose mice to develop mammary tumors, implying that mutations in additional genes are required for ILC formation in mice. To identify these genes, we performed an insertional mutagenesis screen using the Sleeping Beauty transposon system in mice with mammary-specific inactivation of Cdh1 . These mice developed multiple independent mammary tumors of which the majority resembled human ILC in terms of morphology and gene expression. Recurrent and mutually exclusive transposon insertions were identified in Myh9 , Ppp1r12a , Ppp1r12b and Trp53bp2 , whose products have been implicated in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. Notably, MYH9 , PPP1R12B and TP53BP2 were also frequently aberrated in human ILC, highlighting these genes as drivers of a novel oncogenic pathway underlying ILC development.