Molecular and immunohistochemical study of Morgana protein: clinical impact of its expression in triple negative breast cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 10-15% of breast cancer and is characterized by limited therapy options, due to its lack of estrogen and progesterone receptors as well as low expression of HER2. Therefore, it is important to discover new prognostic and predictive markers that can be used to address the most effective therapy. The primary aim of this study is to understand the relation that occurs between the expression of the chaperone protein Morgana and different parameters used in the diagnosis of TNBC, as well as to investigate if the expression of Morgana affects specific molecular pathways. A total of 105 patients affected by TNBC with known clinical history and tumor features, were included in this study. We divided patients in three classes, based on Morgana expression, and observed a difference in the size of the tumor, in the proliferation index Ki-67 and in the presence of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs). Then we performed the Nanostring Molecular Test on 34 samples and observed a difference in the distribution of tumor subtypes. Even though, we didn’t find alterations in molecular pathways, we observed an increased expression of genes involved in mitosis, chromosome condensation and segregation, DNA repair and intracellular signaling. New studies need to be performed to deepen our knowledge about this protein.