Sofía M, Sebastián R, Emanuel C, Branham MT, Marzese DM, Matthew S, De Blas G, Rodolfo A, Michael L, María R. When left does not seem right: epigenetic and bioelectric differences between left- and right-sided breast cancer.
Mol Med 2022;
28:15. [PMID:
35123413 PMCID:
PMC8817536 DOI:
10.1186/s10020-022-00440-5]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
During embryogenesis lateral symmetry is broken, giving rise to Left/Right (L/R) breast tissues with distinct identity. L/R-sided breast tumors exhibit consistently-biased incidence, gene expression, and DNA methylation. We postulate that a differential L/R tumor-microenvironment crosstalk generates different tumorigenesis mechanisms.
Methods
We performed in-silico analyses on breast tumors of public datasets, developed xenografted tumors, and conditioned MDA-MB-231 cells with L/R mammary extracts.
Results
We found L/R differential DNA methylation involved in embryogenic and neuron-like functions. Focusing on ion-channels, we discovered significant L/R epigenetic and bioelectric differences. Specifically, L-sided cells presented increased methylation of hyperpolarizing ion channel genes and increased Ca2+ concentration and depolarized membrane potential, compared to R-ones. Functional consequences were associated with increased proliferation in left tumors, assessed by KI67 expression and mitotic count.
Conclusions
Our findings reveal considerable L/R asymmetry in cancer processes, and suggest specific L/R epigenetic and bioelectric differences as future targets for cancer therapeutic approaches in the breast and many other paired organs.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s10020-022-00440-5.
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