CENTROSOME HYPERTROPHY IN HUMAN BREAST-TUMORS - IMPLICATIONS FOR GENOMIC STABILITY AND CELL POLARITY

The centrosome plays an important role in maintenance of cell polarity and in progression through the cell cycle by determining the number, polarity, and organization of interphase and mitotic microtubules. By examining a set of 35 high grade human breast tumors, we show that cen trosomes of adenocarcinoma cells generally display abnormal structure, aberrant protein phosphorylation, and increased microtubule nucleatin g capacity in comparison to centrosomes of normal breast epithelial an d stromal tissues. These structural and functional centrosome defects have important implications for understanding the mechanisms by which genomic instability and loss of cell polarity develop in solid tumors.