{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,8]],"date-time":"2026-02-08T01:19:44Z","timestamp":1770513584768,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770249600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100020149","name":"COECYTJAL","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["8176-2019 272"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["8176-2019 272"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100020149","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100020149","name":"COECYTJAL","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["10259-2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["10259-2022"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100020149","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100020149","name":"COECYTJAL","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2021-9887 2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021-9887 2022"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100020149","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Breast cancer is the most common and deadliest cancer among women. While overexpression of specific markers guides disease stratification and has enabled the development of targeted therapies, identifying new therapeutic targets remains critical, particularly for aggressive subtypes lacking effective treatments. This study evaluated the expression of \u03b1-Lactalbumin (LALBA) and nucleolin (NCL) in breast cancer tissues from Mexican patients using gene expression analysis and immunohistochemistry. LALBA, a major milk protein normally expressed only during late pregnancy and lactation, was detected in nearly all tumor samples and showed higher levels in aggressive subtypes, with overexpression displaying a slight trend toward poorer overall survival. NCL, a multifunctional nucleolar protein, exhibited predominantly nuclear localization, with moderate expression associated with improved survival. Both proteins correlated with tumor immune features, including increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and PD-L1 expression for LALBA, and elevated CD8+ T cells, PD-L1, and TIM-3 expression for NCL. Overall, these findings suggest that LALBA and NCL are associated with tumor aggressiveness, immune context, and survival trends in breast cancer. Additional studies in larger cohorts are needed to define their clinical relevance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27031561","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T11:13:01Z","timestamp":1770289981000},"page":"1561","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Expression Patterns of LALBA and Nucleolin and Their Clinical, Prognostic, and Immune Relevance in Breast Cancer Tissues of Mexican Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-1086-303X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mariana","family":"Navarro-Real","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n en Inmunolog\u00eda, Departamento de Fisiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud (CUCS), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-0579-1294","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan Omar","family":"Zavala-L\u00f3pez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Bioqu\u00edmica Estructural, Departamento de Qu\u00edmica, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenier\u00eda (CUCEI), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6779-1017","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juliana Marisol","family":"God\u00ednez-Rub\u00ed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Patolog\u00eda Diagn\u00f3stica e Inmunohistoqu\u00edmica (LAPADI), Departamento de Microbiolog\u00eda y Patolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud (CUCS), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5963-9712","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Quintero-Ramos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n en Inmunolog\u00eda, Departamento de Fisiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud (CUCS), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1994-9027","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alicia Del","family":"Toro-Arreola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n en Inmunolog\u00eda, Departamento de Fisiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud (CUCS), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9080-6192","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ramon","family":"Franco-Topete","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Patolog\u00eda Diagn\u00f3stica e Inmunohistoqu\u00edmica (LAPADI), Departamento de Microbiolog\u00eda y Patolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud (CUCS), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-9112-726X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u00c1ngel Quiroz","family":"Bola\u00f1os","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n en Inmunolog\u00eda, Departamento de Fisiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud (CUCS), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5448-0295","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Topete","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Colloids and Polymers Physics Group, Particle Physics Department, Materials Institute (iMATUS) and Health Research Institute (IDIS), University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8206-749X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adri\u00e1n","family":"Daneri-Navarro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n en Inmunolog\u00eda, Departamento de Fisiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud (CUCS), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"229","article-title":"Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries","volume":"74","author":"Bray","year":"2024","journal-title":"CA Cancer J. 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