# MAMMARY CANCER STAGE: VIRAL AND CHEMICAL INTERACTIONS

> **NIH NIH R01** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 1988 · $138,258

## Abstract

Breast cancer is a complex disease that is influenced by multiple factors.
The long-range goal of this project is to understand the role of the
retrovirus, mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV), in murine mammary
tumorigenesis, alone and in combination with chemical carcinogens.  The
general approach attempts to relate events at the molecular level with the
biological features of breast cancer in the BALB/c mouse model system.  The
immediate goals addressed in this proposal are designed to distinguish
among possible molecular mechanisms of MMTV oncogenicity and establish
virus involvement, if any, in mammary carcinogenesis induced by chemicals.
Our working hypothesis is that the product of the MMTV long terminal repeat
(LTR) gene has cellular immortalizing properties and that a mammary
epithelial cell-specific oncogene is involved in complete mammary cell
transformation.

Specific aims are the following:  (1) To monitor cellular oncogene and MMTV
gene expression during normal mammary gland development and in defined
stages in mammary carcinogenesis, including preneoplastic tissue, (2) To
determine whether the chemical carcinogen, DMBA, activates cellular
oncogene or MMTV gene expression in the mouse mammary gland, either prior
to tumor appearance or in the resultant tumors (studies will include
transfection experiments using established mammary epithelial cell lines to
detect mammary-specific oncogenes), (3) To detect and characterize putative
transforming proteins, including the MMTV LTR gene product and int region
products, and determine their possible relevance to mammary tumorigenesis,
and (4) To recover phenotypically altered epithelial cells from mouse
mammary glands during the latent period before tumor appearance.  A major
strength of the BALB/c mouse model system is that the studies will be well
internally controlled, allowing observations of gene expression to be
interpreted in proper perspective.  Gene expression will be compared during
normal gland development, in preneoplastic tissue (the intermediate stage
in mammary tumorigenesis), and in tumors induced by chemical carcinogen.
This project should yield insights into molecular and cellular mechanisms
important in breast cancer causation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3171276
- **Project number:** 5R01CA033369-06
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **SAM.gov UEI:** FXKMA43NTV21
- **Principal Investigator:** JANET S BUTEL
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1988
- **Award amount:** $138,258
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1982-09-01 → 1989-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3171276

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3171276, MAMMARY CANCER STAGE: VIRAL AND CHEMICAL INTERACTIONS (5R01CA033369-06). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3171276. Licensed CC0.

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