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Ponnapakkam T, Saulsberry T, Hill-Odom M, Beamon T, Hooks R, Goyal N, Shaik S, Anbalagan M, Foroozesh M. Anti-cancer effectiveness of a novel ceramide analog on chemo-sensitive and chemo-resistant breast cancers. Anticancer Drugs 2024; 35:12-21. [PMID: 37578744 PMCID: PMC10840646 DOI: 10.1097/cad.0000000000001536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Ceramides are known to show anti-cancer activity. A novel ceramide analog, (S,E)-3-hydroxy-2-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino-N-tetradecylpropanamide (analog 315) was developed as part of a larger study focused on finding more effective breast cancer treatments. OBJECTIVE To assess whether analog 315 shows any or a combination of the following effects in breast cancer cells in vitro: inhibiting proliferation, inducing apoptosis, and altering protein expression. Also, to determine whether it inhibits chemo-resistant breast cancer tumor growth in vivo mouse model. METHODS In vitro cell proliferation and apoptosis after treatment with analog 315 were assessed in three breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MCF-7TN-R, and MDA-MB-231) and reported. Protein expression was assessed by microarray assay. For the in vivo studies, chemo-resistant breast cancer cells were used for tumor development in two groups of mice (treated and control). Analog 315 (25 mg/kg/day) or control (dimethyl sulfoxide) was administered intraperitoneally for 7 days. Effects of analog 315 on inhibiting the growth of chemo-resistant breast cancer tumors after treatment are reported. RESULTS Analog 315 reduced MCF-7TN-R chemo-resistant tumor burden (volume and weight) in mice. Liver metastasis was observed in control mice, but not in the treated animals. Ki-67, a proliferation marker for breast cancer cells, increased significantly ( P < 0.05) in control tumor tissue. In vitro studies showed that analog 315 inhibited cell proliferation, altered protein expression and induced apoptosis in all three breast cancer cell lines studied, of which the effects on MCF-7TN-R cells were the most significant. CONCLUSION Analog 315 reduced tumor growth in chemo-resistant breast cancer, inhibited cell proliferation, altered protein expression, and induced apoptosis in all three cell lines studied.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Teresa Beamon
- Department of Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana
| | - Royce Hooks
- Department of Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana
| | - Navneet Goyal
- Department of Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana
| | - Shahensha Shaik
- Cell and Molecular Biology and Bioinformatic Core, College of Pharmacy, Xavier University of Louisiana
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Piazzesi A, Afsar SY, van Echten‐Deckert G. Sphingolipid metabolism in the development and progression of cancer: one cancer's help is another's hindrance. Mol Oncol 2021; 15:3256-3279. [PMID: 34289244 PMCID: PMC8637577 DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.13063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Revised: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer development is a multistep process in which cells must overcome a series of obstacles before they can become fully developed tumors. First, cells must develop the ability to proliferate unchecked. Once this is accomplished, they must be able to invade the neighboring tissue, as well as provide themselves with oxygen and nutrients. Finally, they must acquire the ability to detach from the newly formed mass in order to spread to other tissues, all the while evading an immune system that is primed for their destruction. Furthermore, increased levels of inflammation have been shown to be linked to the development of cancer, with sites of chronic inflammation being a common component of tumorigenic microenvironments. In this Review, we give an overview of the impact of sphingolipid metabolism in cancers, from initiation to metastatic dissemination, as well as discussing immune responses and resistance to treatments. We explore how sphingolipids can either help or hinder the progression of cells from a healthy phenotype to a cancerous one.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia Piazzesi
- LIMES Institute for Membrane Biology and Lipid BiochemistryUniversity of BonnGermany
| | - Sumaiya Yasmeen Afsar
- LIMES Institute for Membrane Biology and Lipid BiochemistryUniversity of BonnGermany
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Iessi E, Marconi M, Manganelli V, Sorice M, Malorni W, Garofalo T, Matarrese P. On the role of sphingolipids in cell survival and death. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2020; 351:149-195. [PMID: 32247579 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ircmb.2020.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Sphingolipids, universal components of biological membranes of all eukaryotic organisms, from yeasts to mammals, in addition of playing a structural role, also play an important part of signal transduction pathways. They participate or, also, ignite several fundamental subcellular signaling processes but, more in general, they directly contribute to key biological activities such as cell motility, growth, senescence, differentiation as well as cell fate, i.e., survival or death. The sphingolipid metabolic pathway displays an intricate network of reactions that result in the formation of multiple sphingolipids, including ceramide, and sphingosine-1-phosphate. Different sphingolipids, that have key roles in determining cell fate, can induce opposite effects: as a general rule, sphingosine-1-phosphate promotes cell survival and differentiation, whereas ceramide is known to induce apoptosis. Furthermore, together with cholesterol, sphingolipids also represent the basic lipid component of lipid rafts, cholesterol- and sphingolipid-enriched membrane microdomains directly involved in cell death and survival processes. In this review, we briefly describe the characteristics of sphingolipids and lipid membrane microdomains. In particular, we will consider the involvement of various sphingolipids per se and of lipid rafts in apoptotic pathway, both intrinsic and extrinsic, in nonapoptotic cell death, in autophagy, and in cell differentiation. In addition, their roles in the most common physiological and pathological contexts either as pathogenetic elements or as biomarkers of diseases will be considered. We would also hint how the manipulation of sphingolipid metabolism could represent a potential therapeutic target to be investigated and functionally validated especially for those diseases for which therapeutic options are limited or ineffective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Iessi
- Center for Gender-Specific Medicine, Oncology Unit, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Marconi
- Center for Gender-Specific Medicine, Oncology Unit, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Maurizio Sorice
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Walter Malorni
- Center for Gender-Specific Medicine, Oncology Unit, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy; Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
| | - Tina Garofalo
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Matarrese
- Center for Gender-Specific Medicine, Oncology Unit, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
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Liu Q, Li X, Bao YS, Lu J, Li H, Huang Z, Liu F. Chemical synthesis and functional characterization of a new class of ceramide analogues as anti-cancer agents. Bioorg Med Chem 2019; 27:1489-1496. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2019.02.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Revised: 02/05/2019] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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Click chemistry in sphingolipid research. Chem Phys Lipids 2018; 215:71-83. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2018.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Revised: 07/13/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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Ceramide mediates FasL-induced caspase 8 activation in colon carcinoma cells to enhance FasL-induced cytotoxicity by tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Sci Rep 2016; 6:30816. [PMID: 27487939 PMCID: PMC4973238 DOI: 10.1038/srep30816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2016] [Accepted: 07/11/2016] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
FasL-mediated cytotoxicity is one of the mechanisms that CTLs use to kill tumor cells. However, human colon carcinoma often deregulates the Fas signaling pathway to evade host cancer immune surveillance. We aimed at testing the hypothesis that novel ceramide analogs effectively modulate Fas function to sensitize colon carcinoma cells to FasL-induced apoptosis. We used rational design and synthesized twenty ceramide analogs as Fas function modulators. Five ceramide analogs, IG4, IG7, IG14, IG17, and IG19, exhibit low toxicity and potent activity in sensitization of human colon carcinoma cells to FasL-induced apoptosis. Functional deficiency of Fas limits both FasL and ceramide analogs in the induction of apoptosis. Ceramide enhances FasL-induced activation of the MAPK, NF-κB, and caspase 8 despite induction of potent tumor cell death. Finally, a sublethal dose of several ceramide analogs significantly increased CTL-mediated and FasL-induced apoptosis of colon carcinoma cells. We have therefore developed five novel ceramide analogs that act at a sublethal dose to enhance the efficacy of tumor-specific CTLs, and these ceramide analogs hold great promise for further development as adjunct agents in CTL-based colon cancer immunotherapy.
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Abstract
Ceramide serves as a central mediator in sphingolipid metabolism and signaling pathways, regulating many fundamental cellular responses. It is referred to as a 'tumor suppressor lipid', since it powerfully potentiates signaling events that drive apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and autophagic responses. In the typical cancer cell, ceramide levels and signaling are usually suppressed by overexpression of ceramide-metabolizing enzymes or downregulation of ceramide-generating enzymes. However, chemotherapeutic drugs as well as radiotherapy increase intracellular ceramide levels, while exogenously treating cancer cells with short-chain ceramides leads to anticancer effects. All evidence currently points to the fact that the upregulation of ceramide levels is a promising anticancer strategy. In this review, we exhibit many anticancer ceramide analogs as downstream receptor agonists and ceramide-metabolizing enzyme inhibitors.
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Ponnapakam AP, Liu J, Bhinge KN, Drew BA, Wang TL, Antoon JW, Nguyen TT, Dupart PS, Wang Y, Zhao M, Liu YY, Foroozesh M, Beckman BS. 3-Ketone-4,6-diene ceramide analogs exclusively induce apoptosis in chemo-resistant cancer cells. Bioorg Med Chem 2014; 22:1412-20. [PMID: 24457089 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2013.12.065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2013] [Revised: 12/16/2013] [Accepted: 12/26/2013] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Multidrug-resistance is a major cause of cancer chemotherapy failure in clinical treatment. Evidence shows that multidrug-resistant cancer cells are as sensitive as corresponding regular cancer cells under the exposure to anticancer ceramide analogs. In this work we designed five new ceramide analogs with different backbones, in order to test the hypothesis that extending the conjugated system in ceramide analogs would lead to an increase of their anticancer activity and selectivity towards resistant cancer cells. The analogs with the 3-ketone-4,6-diene backbone show the highest apoptosis-inducing efficacy. The most potent compound, analog 406, possesses higher pro-apoptotic activity in chemo-resistant cell lines MCF-7TN-R and NCI/ADR-RES than the corresponding chemo-sensitive cell lines MCF-7 and OVCAR-8, respectively. However, this compound shows the same potency in inhibiting the growth of another pair of chemo-sensitive and chemo-resistant cancer cells, MCF-7 and MCF-7/Dox. Mechanism investigations indicate that analog 406 can induce apoptosis in chemo-resistant cancer cells through the mitochondrial pathway. Cellular glucosylceramide synthase assay shows that analog 406 does not interrupt glucosylceramide synthase in chemo-resistant cancer cell NCI/ADR-RES. These findings suggest that due to certain intrinsic properties, ceramide analogs' pro-apoptotic activity is not disrupted by the normal drug-resistance mechanisms, leading to their potential use for overcoming cancer multidrug-resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adharsh P Ponnapakam
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112, United States
| | - Jiawang Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, New Orleans, LA 70125, United States
| | - Kaustubh N Bhinge
- College of Pharmacy Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Louisiana at Monroe, 1800 Bienville, Monroe, LA 71209, United States
| | - Barbara A Drew
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112, United States
| | - Tony L Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112, United States
| | - James W Antoon
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112, United States
| | - Thong T Nguyen
- Department of Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, New Orleans, LA 70125, United States
| | - Patrick S Dupart
- Department of Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, New Orleans, LA 70125, United States
| | - Yuji Wang
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, PR China
| | - Ming Zhao
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, PR China
| | - Yong-Yu Liu
- College of Pharmacy Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Louisiana at Monroe, 1800 Bienville, Monroe, LA 71209, United States
| | - Maryam Foroozesh
- Department of Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, New Orleans, LA 70125, United States.
| | - Barbara S Beckman
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112, United States
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Truman JP, García-Barros M, Obeid LM, Hannun YA. Evolving concepts in cancer therapy through targeting sphingolipid metabolism. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids 2013; 1841:1174-88. [PMID: 24384461 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2013.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2013] [Revised: 12/18/2013] [Accepted: 12/21/2013] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Traditional methods of cancer treatment are limited in their efficacy due to both inherent and acquired factors. Many different studies have shown that the generation of ceramide in response to cytotoxic therapy is generally an important step leading to cell death. Cancer cells employ different methods to both limit ceramide generation and to remove ceramide in order to become resistant to treatment. Furthermore, sphingosine kinase activity, which phosphorylates sphingosine the product of ceramide hydrolysis, has been linked to multidrug resistance, and can act as a strong survival factor. This review will examine several of the most frequently used cancer therapies and their effect on both ceramide generation and the mechanisms employed to remove it. The development and use of inhibitors of sphingosine kinase will be focused upon as an example of how targeting sphingolipid metabolism may provide an effective means to improve treatment response rates and reduce associated treatment toxicity. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Tools to study lipid functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Philip Truman
- Health Science Center, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, T15, 023, 11794 Stony Brook, NY, USA.
| | - Mónica García-Barros
- Health Science Center, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, T15, 023, 11794 Stony Brook, NY, USA.
| | - Lina M Obeid
- Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Northport, NY 11768, USA; Health Science Center, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, L4, 178, 11794 Stony Brook, NY, USA.
| | - Yusuf A Hannun
- Department of Medicine and the Stony Brook Cancer Center, Health Science Center, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, L4, 178, 11794 Stony Brook, NY, USA.
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Antoon JW, Nitzchke AM, Martin EC, Rhodes LV, Nam S, Wadsworth S, Salvo VA, Elliott S, Collins-Burow B, Nephew KP, Burow ME. Inhibition of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase alters microRNA expression and reverses epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Int J Oncol 2013; 42:1139-50. [PMID: 23403951 PMCID: PMC3622654 DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2013.1814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2012] [Accepted: 09/21/2012] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Acquired chemoresistance and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) are hallmarks of cancer progression and of increasing clinical relevance. We investigated the role of miRNA and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling in the progression of breast cancer to a drug-resistant and mesenchymal phenotype. We demonstrate that acquired death receptor resistance results in increased hormone-independent tumorigenesis compared to hormone-sensitive parental cells. Utilizing global miRNA gene expression profiling, we identified miRNA alterations associated with the development of death receptor resistance and EMT progression. We further investigated the role of p38 MAPK in this process, showing dose-dependent inactivation of p38 by its inhibitor RWJ67657 and decreased downstream ATF and NF-κB signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of p38 also decreased chemoresistant cancer tumor growth in xenograft animal models. Interestingly, inhibition of p38 partially reversed the EMT changes found in this cell system, as illustrated by decreased gene expression of the EMT markers Twist, Snail, Slug and ZEB and protein and mRNA levels of Twist, a known EMT promoter, concomitant with decreased N-cadherin protein. RWJ67657 treatment also altered the expression of several miRNAs known to promote therapeutic resistance, including miR-200, miR-303, miR-302, miR-199 and miR-328. Taken together, our results demonstrate the roles of multiple microRNAs and p38 signaling in the progression of cancer and demonstrate the therapeutic potential of targeting the p38 MAPK pathway for reversing EMT in an advanced tumor phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- James W Antoon
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
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Collins-Burow BM, Antoon JW, Frigo DE, Elliott S, Weldon CB, Boue SM, Beckman BS, Curiel TJ, Alam J, McLachlan JA, Burow ME. Antiestrogenic activity of flavonoid phytochemicals mediated via the c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase pathway. Cell-type specific regulation of estrogen receptor alpha. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2012; 132:186-93. [PMID: 22634477 PMCID: PMC4083692 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2012.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2012] [Revised: 05/12/2012] [Accepted: 05/14/2012] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Flavonoid phytochemicals act as both agonists and antagonists of the human estrogen receptors (ERs). While a number of these compounds act by directly binding to the ER, certain phytochemicals, such as the flavonoid compounds chalcone and flavone, elicit antagonistic effects on estrogen signaling independent of direct receptor binding. Here we demonstrate both chalcone and flavone function as cell type-specific selective ER modulators. In MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells chalcone and flavone suppress ERα activity through stimulation of the stress-activated members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family: c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)1 and JNK2. The use of dominant-negative mutants of JNK1 or JNK2 in stable transfected cells established that the antiestrogenic effects of chalcone and flavone required intact JNK signaling. We further show that constitutive activation of the JNK pathway partially suppresses estrogen (E2)-mediated gene expression in breast, but not endometrial carcinoma cells. Our results demonstrate a role for stress-activated MAPKs in the cell type-specific regulation of ERα function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bridgette M. Collins-Burow
- Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology & Medical Oncology, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
| | - James W. Antoon
- Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology & Medical Oncology, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Department of Pharmacology, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
| | - Daniel E. Frigo
- Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX
| | - Steven Elliott
- Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology & Medical Oncology, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
| | - Christopher B. Weldon
- Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology & Medical Oncology, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
| | - Stephen M. Boue
- U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southern Regional Research Center, New Orleans, LA 70179
| | - Barbara S. Beckman
- Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology & Medical Oncology, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
| | - Tyler J. Curiel
- Cancer Therapy & Research Center, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio
| | - Jawed Alam
- Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation, Department of Molecular Genetics, New Orleans, Louisiana 70121
| | - John A. McLachlan
- Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
| | - Matthew E. Burow
- Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology & Medical Oncology, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
- To whom correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed: Matthew E. Burow, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology & Medical Oncology, 1430 Tulane Ave. SL-78, New Orleans, LA 70112, Phone: 504-988-6688, Fax: 504-988-5483,
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Antoon JW, Bratton MR, Guillot LM, Wadsworth S, Salvo VA, Burow ME. Inhibition of p38-MAPK alters SRC coactivation and estrogen receptor phosphorylation. Cancer Biol Ther 2012; 13:1026-33. [PMID: 22825349 DOI: 10.4161/cbt.20992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The p38 mitogen activated protein kinase pathway (MAPK) is known to promote cell survival, endocrine therapy resistance and hormone independent breast cancer cell proliferation. Therefore, we utilized the novel p38 inhibitor RWJ67657 to investigate the relevance of targeting this pathway in the ER (+) breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Our results show that RWJ67657 inhibits both basal and estrogen stimulated phosphorylation of p38α, resulting in decreased activation of the downstream p38α targets hsp27 and MAPAPK. Furthermore, inhibition of p38α by RWJ67657 blocks clonogenic survival of MCF-7 cells with little effect on non-cancerous breast epithelial cells. Even though p38α is known to phosphorylate ERα at residue within ER's hinge region at Thr311, resulting in increased ERα transcriptional activation, our results suggest RWJ67657 inhibits the p38α-induced activation of ER by targeting both the AF-1 and AF-2 activation domains within ERα. We further show that RWJ67657 decreases the transcriptional activity of the ER coactivators SRC-1, SRC-2 and SRC-3. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that in addition to phosphorylating Thr311 within ERα, p38α indirectly activates the ER by phosphorylation and stimulation of the known ERα coactivators, SRC-1, -2 and-3. Overall, our data underscore the therapeutic potential of targeting the p38 MAPK pathway in the treatment of ER (+) breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- James W Antoon
- Department Medicine, Section of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA
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