Serum MMPs and TIMPs: May be predictors of breast carcinogenesis?

Pseudogene CYP4Z2P 3'UTR promotes angiogenesis in breast cancer

Pseudogenes have long been marked as "false" genes, which are similar with real genes but have no apparent function. The 3'UTR is well-known to regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally. Our recent evidence, however, indicates novel functional roles of pseudogene CYP4Z2P 3'UTR (Z2P-UTR). We found that ectopic expression of Z2P-UTR in breast cancer cells significantly increased the expression of VEGF-A without affecting cell proliferation in vitro. Meanwhile, conditioned medium (CM) from Z2P-UTR overexpression cells enhanced proliferation, migration and tube formation of HUVEC, and promoted angiogenesis in ex vivo models. Also, CM increased the expression of VEGFR2 in HUVEC. Our data suggest that Z2P-UTR can promote breast cancer angiogenesis partly via paracrine pathway of VEGF-A/VEGFR2.

TIMP-1 promotes accumulation of cancer associated fibroblasts and cancer progression

Treatment options for late stage prostate and colon cancer are limited and there is an urgent need to develop more effective and targeted novel therapies, which starts with identification and validation of novel therapeutic targets. Recent clinical studies have demonstrated that tissue inhibitor matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) levels are elevated in cancer patient plasma and elevated TIMP-1 levels are associated with worse clinical outcomes. However, it is unknown whether TIMP-1 serves merely as a biomarker of cancer progression or has a functional role in promoting cancer progression and can serve as a cancer therapeutic target, which is the main objective of this study. Here, we show that stroma of human prostate and colon cancer express higher levels of TIMP-1 compared to their normal counterparts and increased expression of TIMP-1 promotes in vivo growth of both cancer types. We demonstrate for the first time that increased TIMP-1 expression stimulates accumulation of cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) within prostate and colon cancer tissues and that TIMP-1 enhances prostate CAF proliferation and migration in vitro and promotes ERK1/2 kinase activation in these CAF cells. Our results establish the novel promotive effects of TIMP-1 on cancer progression and on accumulation of CAFs that in turn provides a pro-tumor microenvironment. Together, these results establish the potential of TIMP-1 as a novel target for cancer therapy and the mechanism underlying the pro-tumor activity of TIMP-1.

MMP-2 -1306C>T polymorphism in breast cancer: a case-control study in a South European population

This case control study aims to investigate the role of MMP-2 -1306C>T polymorphism as a potential risk factor and possible prognostic marker for breast cancer in a South European population. 113 consecutive incident cases of histologically confirmed ductal breast cancer and 124 healthy controls were recruited. MMP-2 -1306C>T polymorphism was genotyped; multivariate logistic regression as well as Cox regression analysis were performed. MMP-2 -1306C>T status was not associated with breast cancer risk either at the total sample or at the subanalyses on premenopausal and postmenopausal women. At the survival analysis, a trend towards a favorable association between MMP-2 -1306C>T allele and disease-free survival as well as overall survival was observed. Regarding subanalyses on ER-negative and ER-positive cases, the favorable association implicating MMP-2 -1306C>T allele was particularly evident among ER-positive cases; no significant associations emerged among ER-negative cases. MMP-2 -1306C>T polymorphism does not seem to be a risk factor for breast cancer in South European population; however, a trend towards a favorable association with survival has been observed.