Suppression of Neu-induced mammary tumor growth in cyclin D1 deficient mice is compensated for by cyclin E

Amplification and/or overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase HER2/Neu and the cell cycle regulatory gene cyclin D1 are frequently associated with human breast cancer. We studied the functional significance of cyclin D1 in Neu-induced mammary oncogenesis by developing mice overexpressing either wild-type or mutant Neu in a cyclin D1 deficient background. The absence of cyclin D1 suppresses mammary tumor formation induced by the wild-type or activated mutant form of Neu, which promote multi- and single-step progression of tumorigenesis, respectively. These data indicate that cyclin D1 is preferentially required for Neu-mediated signal transduction pathways in mammary oncogenesis. Significantly, 35% of mutant Neu/cyclin D1(-/-) mice regained mammary tumor potential due to compensation by cyclin E. Thus, shared targets of cyclins D1 and E are important in modulating Neu function in mammary tumorigenesis. Our results imply that the combinatorial inhibition of cyclins D1 and E might be useful in the treatment of malignancies induced by Neu.