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Fang Y, Zhang Q, Chen Z, Guo C, Wu J. Clinical significance and immune characteristics analysis of miR-221-3p and its key target genes related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer. Aging (Albany NY) 2024; 16:322-347. [PMID: 38189813 PMCID: PMC10817385 DOI: 10.18632/aging.205370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND MicroRNA-221-3p (miR-221-3p) facilitates the advancement of breast cancer (BC) through the induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Our research aimed to utilize bioinformatics to discover possible EMT-related target genes (ETGs) of miR-221-3p and examine their roles in breast cancer. METHODS We employed bioinformatics techniques to identify ten key ETGs of miR-221-3p. Subsequently, we conducted an extensive analysis of both miR-221-3p and the ten ETGs, including clinical significance and immune characteristics. RESULTS The expression of miR-221-3p was notably higher in Basal-like BC compared to other subtypes and adjacent normal tissue. Our pathway analysis suggested that miR-221-3p might regulate EMT through the MAPK signaling pathway by targeting its ETGs. Among the ETGs, seven core genes (EGFR, IGF1, KDR, FGF2, KIT, FGFR1, and FGF1) exhibited downregulation in BC. Conversely, ERBB2, SDC1, and MMP14 showed upregulation in BC and displayed potential diagnostic value. The analysis of prognostication indicated that increased levels of SDC1 and MMP14 were correlated with an unfavorable prognosis, whereas elevated expression of KIT was associated with a more favorable prognosis. The infiltration of various immune cells and the expression of immune checkpoint genes (ICGs) exhibited positive correlations with most ETGs and miR-221-3p. SDC1 exhibited a greater tumor mutational burden (TMB) score, while ERBB2, KDR, FGF2, KIT, FGFR1, and FGF1 showed lower TMB scores. Furthermore, decreased ERBB2 and KDR expression levels were correlated with elevated microsatellite instability (MSI) scores. Elevated expression of ETGs was linked to decreased mRNA stemness indices (mRNAsi), whereas miR-221-3p displayed the opposite pattern. Most ETGs and miR-221-3p expression exhibited a negative correlation with IC50 values for drugs. Among the ETGs, amplification was the most significant genetic alteration, except for IGF1. CONCLUSION In conclusion, miR-221-3p acts as a unique indicator for Basal-like BC. The examination revealed ten essential ETGs of miR-221-3p, some of which show potential as diagnostic and prognostic markers. The in-depth examination of these ten ETGs and miR-221-3p indicates their participation in the development of BC, emphasizing their promise as innovative targets for therapy in BC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yutong Fang
- The Breast Center, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China
- Department of Central Laboratory, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China
| | - Qunchen Zhang
- Department of Breast, Jiangmen Central Hospital, Jiangmen 529000, Guangdong, China
| | - Zexiao Chen
- The Breast Center, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China
- Department of Central Laboratory, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China
| | - Cuiping Guo
- The Breast Center, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China
- Department of Central Laboratory, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China
| | - Jundong Wu
- The Breast Center, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China
- Department of Central Laboratory, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China
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Shiino S, Tokura M, Nakayama J, Yoshida M, Suto A, Yamamoto Y. Investigation of Tumor Heterogeneity Using Integrated Single-Cell RNA Sequence Analysis to Focus on Genes Related to Breast Cancer-, EMT-, CSC-, and Metastasis-Related Markers in Patients with HER2-Positive Breast Cancer. Cells 2023; 12:2286. [PMID: 37759508 PMCID: PMC10527746 DOI: 10.3390/cells12182286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) protein, which is characterized by the amplification of ERBB2, is a molecular target for HER2-overexpressing breast cancer. Many targeted HER2 strategies have been well developed thus far. Furthermore, intratumoral heterogeneity in HER2 cases has been observed with immunohistochemical staining and has been considered one of the reasons for drug resistance. Therefore, we conducted an integrated analysis of the breast cancer single-cell gene expression data for HER2-positive breast cancer cases from both scRNA-seq data from public datasets and data from our cohort and compared them with those for luminal breast cancer datasets. In our results, heterogeneous distribution of the expression of breast cancer-related genes (ESR1, PGR, ERBB2, and MKI67) was observed. Various gene expression levels differed at the single-cell level between the ERBB2-high group and ERBB2-low group. Moreover, molecular functions and ERBB2 expression levels differed between estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and ER-negative HER2 cases. Additionally, the gene expression levels of typical breast cancer-, CSC-, EMT-, and metastasis-related markers were also different across each patient. These results suggest that diversity in gene expression could occur not only in the presence of ERBB2 expression and ER status but also in the molecular characteristics of each patient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sho Shiino
- Department of Breast Surgery, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan;
| | - Momoko Tokura
- Laboratory of Integrative Oncology, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan; (M.T.); (J.N.)
| | - Jun Nakayama
- Laboratory of Integrative Oncology, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan; (M.T.); (J.N.)
| | - Masayuki Yoshida
- Department of Diagnostic Pathology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan;
| | - Akihiko Suto
- Department of Breast Surgery, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan;
| | - Yusuke Yamamoto
- Laboratory of Integrative Oncology, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan; (M.T.); (J.N.)
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Cohen EN, Jayachandran G, Moore RG, Cristofanilli M, Lang JE, Khoury JD, Press MF, Kim KK, Khazan N, Zhang Q, Zhang Y, Kaur P, Guzman R, Miller MC, Reuben JM, Ueno NT. A Multi-Center Clinical Study to Harvest and Characterize Circulating Tumor Cells from Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer Using the Parsortix ® PC1 System. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:5238. [PMID: 36358657 PMCID: PMC9656921 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14215238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) captured from the blood of cancer patients may serve as a surrogate source of tumor material that can be obtained via a venipuncture (also known as a liquid biopsy) and used to better understand tumor characteristics. However, the only FDA-cleared CTC assay has been limited to the enumeration of surface marker-defined cells and not further characterization of the CTCs. In this study, we tested the ability of a semi-automated device capable of capturing and harvesting CTCs from peripheral blood based on cell size and deformability, agnostic of cell-surface markers (the Parsortix® PC1 System), to yield CTCs for evaluation by downstream techniques commonly available in clinical laboratories. The data generated from this study were used to support a De Novo request (DEN200062) for the classification of this device, which the FDA recently granted. As part of a multicenter clinical trial, peripheral blood samples from 216 patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and 205 healthy volunteers were subjected to CTC enrichment. A board-certified pathologist enumerated the CTCs from each participant by cytologic evaluation of Wright-Giemsa-stained slides. As proof of principle, cells harvested from a concurrent parallel sample provided by each participant were evaluated using one of three additional evaluation techniques: molecular profiling by qRT-PCR, RNA sequencing, or cytogenetic analysis of HER2 amplification by FISH. The study demonstrated that the Parsortix® PC1 System can effectively capture and harvest CTCs from the peripheral blood of MBC patients and that the harvested cells can be evaluated using orthogonal methodologies such as gene expression and/or Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH).
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan N. Cohen
- Department of Hematopathology Research, Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Gitanjali Jayachandran
- Department of Hematopathology Research, Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Richard G. Moore
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
| | - Massimo Cristofanilli
- Department of Medicine-Hematology and Oncology, Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Julie E. Lang
- USC Breast Cancer Program, Keck School of Medicine, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Joseph D. Khoury
- Department of Pathology, Breast Cancer Analysis Laboratory, Keck School of Medicine, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Michael F. Press
- Department of Pathology, Breast Cancer Analysis Laboratory, Keck School of Medicine, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Kyu Kwang Kim
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
| | - Negar Khazan
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
| | - Qiang Zhang
- Department of Medicine-Hematology and Oncology, Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Youbin Zhang
- Department of Medicine-Hematology and Oncology, Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Pushpinder Kaur
- USC Breast Cancer Program, Keck School of Medicine, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Roberta Guzman
- Department of Pathology, Breast Cancer Analysis Laboratory, Keck School of Medicine, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Michael C. Miller
- ANGLE Clinical Studies, ANGLE Europe Limited, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7AF, UK
| | - James M. Reuben
- Department of Hematopathology Research, Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Naoto T. Ueno
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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Ingthorsson S, Traustadottir GA, Gudjonsson T. Cellular Plasticity and Heterotypic Interactions during Breast Morphogenesis and Cancer Initiation. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14215209. [PMID: 36358627 PMCID: PMC9654604 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14215209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary This review aims to discuss the structure, function and dynamics of the breast gland and how changes to the function of the breast’s cells can lead to different types of cancer. Abstract The human breast gland is a unique organ as most of its development occurs postnatally between menarche and menopause, a period ranging from 30 to 40 years. During this period, the monthly menstruation cycle drives the mammary gland through phases of cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, facilitated via a closely choreographed interaction between the epithelial cells and the surrounding stroma preparing the gland for pregnancy. If pregnancy occurs, maximal differentiation is reached to prepare for lactation. After lactation, the mammary gland involutes to a pre-pregnant state. These cycles of proliferation, differentiation, and involution necessitate the presence of epithelial stem cells that give rise to progenitor cells which differentiate further into the luminal and myoepithelial lineages that constitute the epithelial compartment and are responsible for the branching structure of the gland. Maintaining homeostasis and the stem cell niche depends strongly on signaling between the stem and progenitor cells and the surrounding stroma. Breast cancer is a slowly progressing disease whose initiation can take decades to progress into an invasive form. Accumulating evidence indicates that stem cells and/or progenitor cells at different stages, rather than terminally differentiated cells are the main cells of origin for most breast cancer subgroups. Stem cells and cancer cells share several similarities such as increased survival and cellular plasticity which is reflected in their ability to switch fate by receiving intrinsic and extrinsic signals. In this review, we discuss the concept of cellular plasticity in normal breast morphogenesis and cancer, and how the stromal environment plays a vital role in cancer initiation and progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saevar Ingthorsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Faculty of nursing and midwifery, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Gunnhildur Asta Traustadottir
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Department of Pathology, Landspitali University Hospital, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Thorarinn Gudjonsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Department of Laboratory Hematology, Landspitali University Hospital, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Correspondence:
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5
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Balogová M, Sharma S, Cherek P, Ólafsson SN, Jónsdóttir S, Ögmundsdóttir HM, Damodaran KK. Cytotoxic effects of halogenated tin phosphinoyldithioformate complexes against several cancer cell lines. Dalton Trans 2022; 51:13119-13128. [PMID: 35975724 DOI: 10.1039/d2dt01127a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/09/2022]
Abstract
Organotin complexes are studied as promising alternatives to the anticancer drug cisplatin. We report two monoorganotin(IV) complexes based on a dibenzyl phosphinoyldithioformate (H-DBPTF) ligand, containing either bromide (Sn-DBPTF-1) or chloride (Sn-DBPTF-2) anions. The complexes were characterized by standard analytical techniques and the structural details of these complexes were elucidated by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Sn-DBPTF-1 was cytotoxic at IC50 <10 μg mL-1 against cancer cell lines A549 (lung cancer), Aspc-1 (pancreatic cancer), OVCAR-3 (ovarian cancer), T-47D (breast cancer) and HCT116 (colon cancer), and breast epithelial stem cell line D492. The non-tumorigenic breast epithelial cell line MCF-10 was less sensitive at IC50 = 22 μg mL-1. Sn-DBPTF-2 had limited cytotoxic effect at IC50 13-37 μg mL-1. Sn-DBPTF-1 induced apoptosis and double-strand DNA breaks. Cell cycle arrest in G2 occurred in HCT116 and accumulation in G1 in Aspc-1. The results indicate that the basic effect of Sn-DBPTF-1 is to induce DNA damage, leading to apoptosis and cell cycle arrest depending on the cell line.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michaela Balogová
- Cancer Research Laboratory, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | - Shubham Sharma
- Department of Chemistry, Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 3, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland.
| | - Paulina Cherek
- Cancer Research Laboratory, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | - Sigurjón N Ólafsson
- Department of Chemistry, Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 3, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland.
| | - Sigrídur Jónsdóttir
- Department of Chemistry, Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 3, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland.
| | - Helga M Ögmundsdóttir
- Cancer Research Laboratory, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | - Krishna K Damodaran
- Department of Chemistry, Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 3, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland.
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Green BJ, Marazzini M, Hershey B, Fardin A, Li Q, Wang Z, Giangreco G, Pisati F, Marchesi S, Disanza A, Frittoli E, Martini E, Magni S, Beznoussenko GV, Vernieri C, Lobefaro R, Parazzoli D, Maiuri P, Havas K, Labib M, Sigismund S, Fiore PPD, Gunby RH, Kelley SO, Scita G. PillarX: A Microfluidic Device to Profile Circulating Tumor Cell Clusters Based on Geometry, Deformability, and Epithelial State. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2022; 18:e2106097. [PMID: 35344274 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202106097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Revised: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters are associated with increased metastatic potential and worse patient prognosis, but are rare, difficult to count, and poorly characterized biophysically. The PillarX device described here is a bimodular microfluidic device (Pillar-device and an X-magnetic device) to profile single CTCs and clusters from whole blood based on their size, deformability, and epithelial marker expression. Larger, less deformable clusters and large single cells are captured in the Pillar-device and sorted according to pillar gap sizes. Smaller, deformable clusters and single cells are subsequently captured in the X-device and separated based on epithelial marker expression using functionalized magnetic nanoparticles. Clusters of established and primary breast cancer cells with variable degrees of cohesion driven by different cell-cell adhesion protein expression are profiled in the device. Cohesive clusters exhibit a lower deformability as they travel through the pillar array, relative to less cohesive clusters, and have greater collective invasive behavior. The ability of the PillarX device to capture clusters is validated in mouse models and patients of metastatic breast cancer. Thus, this device effectively enumerates and profiles CTC clusters based on their unique geometrical, physical, and biochemical properties, and could form the basis of a novel prognostic clinical tool.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda J Green
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Margherita Marazzini
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Ben Hershey
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Amir Fardin
- IEO, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia IRCCS, Via Ripamonti 435, Milan, 20141, Italy
| | - Qingsen Li
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Zongjie Wang
- Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 144 College St, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3M2, Canada
| | - Giovanni Giangreco
- IEO, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia IRCCS, Via Ripamonti 435, Milan, 20141, Italy
- Tumour Cell Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Rd, London, NW1 1AT, UK
| | - Federica Pisati
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Stefano Marchesi
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Andrea Disanza
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Emanuela Frittoli
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Emanuele Martini
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Serena Magni
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | | | - Claudio Vernieri
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
- Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Via G. Venezian 1, Milan, 20133, Italy
| | - Riccardo Lobefaro
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
- Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Via G. Venezian 1, Milan, 20133, Italy
| | - Dario Parazzoli
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Paolo Maiuri
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Kristina Havas
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
| | - Mahmoud Labib
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Sara Sigismund
- IEO, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia IRCCS, Via Ripamonti 435, Milan, 20141, Italy
- Department of Oncology and Haemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Festa del Perdono, 7, Milan, 20122, Italy
| | - Pier Paolo Di Fiore
- IEO, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia IRCCS, Via Ripamonti 435, Milan, 20141, Italy
- Department of Oncology and Haemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Festa del Perdono, 7, Milan, 20122, Italy
| | - Rosalind H Gunby
- IEO, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia IRCCS, Via Ripamonti 435, Milan, 20141, Italy
| | - Shana O Kelley
- Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 144 College St, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3M2, Canada
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Giorgio Scita
- IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Via Adamello, 16, Milan, 20139, Italy
- Department of Oncology and Haemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Festa del Perdono, 7, Milan, 20122, Italy
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Gambardella G, Viscido G, Tumaini B, Isacchi A, Bosotti R, di Bernardo D. A single-cell analysis of breast cancer cell lines to study tumour heterogeneity and drug response. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1714. [PMID: 35361816 PMCID: PMC8971486 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29358-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer cells within a tumour have heterogeneous phenotypes and exhibit dynamic plasticity. How to evaluate such heterogeneity and its impact on outcome and drug response is still unclear. Here, we transcriptionally profile 35,276 individual cells from 32 breast cancer cell lines to yield a single cell atlas. We find high degree of heterogeneity in the expression of biomarkers. We then train a deconvolution algorithm on the atlas to determine cell line composition from bulk gene expression profiles of tumour biopsies, thus enabling cell line-based patient stratification. Finally, we link results from large-scale in vitro drug screening in cell lines to the single cell data to computationally predict drug responses starting from single-cell profiles. We find that transcriptional heterogeneity enables cells with differential drug sensitivity to co-exist in the same population. Our work provides a framework to determine tumour heterogeneity in terms of cell line composition and drug response.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Gambardella
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, Naples, Italy.,University of Naples Federico II, Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Engineering, Naples, Italy
| | - G Viscido
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, Naples, Italy.,University of Naples Federico II, Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Engineering, Naples, Italy
| | - B Tumaini
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, Naples, Italy
| | - A Isacchi
- NMSsrl, Nerviano Medical Sciences, 20014, Nerviano, Milan, Italy
| | - R Bosotti
- NMSsrl, Nerviano Medical Sciences, 20014, Nerviano, Milan, Italy
| | - D di Bernardo
- Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, Naples, Italy. .,University of Naples Federico II, Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Engineering, Naples, Italy.
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8
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Circulating Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer Patients: A Balancing Act between Stemness, EMT Features and DNA Damage Responses. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14040997. [PMID: 35205744 PMCID: PMC8869884 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14040997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) traverse vessels to travel from the primary tumor to distant organs where they adhere, transmigrate, and seed metastases. To cope with these challenges, CTCs have reached maximal flexibility to change their differentiation status, morphology, migratory capacity, and their responses to genotoxic stress caused by metabolic changes, hormones, the inflammatory environment, or cytostatic treatment. A significant percentage of breast cancer cells are defective in homologous recombination repair and other mechanisms that protect the integrity of the replication fork. To prevent cell death caused by broken forks, alternative, mutagenic repair, and bypass pathways are engaged but these increase genomic instability. CTCs, arising from such breast tumors, are endowed with an even larger toolbox of escape mechanisms that can be switched on and off at different stages during their journey according to the stress stimulus. Accumulating evidence suggests that DNA damage responses, DNA repair, and replication are integral parts of a regulatory network orchestrating the plasticity of stemness features and transitions between epithelial and mesenchymal states in CTCs. This review summarizes the published information on these regulatory circuits of relevance for the design of biomarkers reflecting CTC functions in real-time to monitor therapeutic responses and detect evolving chemoresistance mechanisms.
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9
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Kaur B, Mukhlis Y, Natesh J, Penta D, Musthapa Meeran S. Identification of hub genes associated with EMT-induced chemoresistance in breast cancer using integrated bioinformatics analysis. Gene 2022; 809:146016. [PMID: 34655723 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2021.146016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Chemoresistance is one of the major challenges in the treatment of breast cancer. Recent evidence suggests that epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a critical role in not only metastasis but also in chemoresistance, hence causing tumor relapse. This study aimed to identify the hub genes associated with EMT and chemoresistance in breast cancer affecting patient/clinical survival. Commonly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) during EMT and chemoresistance in breast cancer cells were identified using publicly available datasets, GSE23655, GSE39359, GSE33146 and GSE76540. Hierarchical clustering analysis was utilized to determine the commonly DEGs expression pattern in chemoresistant (CR) breast cancer cells. GSEA revealed that EMT-related genes sets were enriched in the CR samples. Further, we found that EMT-induced breast cancer cells showed overexpression of drug efflux transporters along with resistance to chemotherapeutic drug. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the commonly DEGs were enriched in immunological pathways, early endosome, protein dimerization, and proteoglycans in cancer. Further, we identified eight hub genes from the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. We validated the gene expression levels of the hub genes among TCGA breast cancer samples using UALCAN. Survival analysis for the hub genes was performed using KM plotter, which showed a worse relapse-free survival (RFS) of the hub genes among breast cancer patients. In conclusion, this study identified eight hub genes that play an important role in the pathways underlying EMT-induced chemoresistance in breast cancer and can be used as therapeutic targets after clinical validation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhavjot Kaur
- Department of Biochemistry, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru 570020, Karnataka, India
| | - Yahya Mukhlis
- Department of Biochemistry, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru 570020, Karnataka, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Jagadish Natesh
- Department of Biochemistry, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru 570020, Karnataka, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Dhanamjai Penta
- Department of Biochemistry, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru 570020, Karnataka, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Syed Musthapa Meeran
- Department of Biochemistry, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru 570020, Karnataka, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
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10
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Topa J, Grešner P, Żaczek AJ, Markiewicz A. Breast cancer circulating tumor cells with mesenchymal features-an unreachable target? Cell Mol Life Sci 2022; 79:81. [PMID: 35048186 PMCID: PMC8770434 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-021-04064-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Revised: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) mediate dissemination of solid tumors and can be an early sign of disease progression. Moreover, they show a great potential in terms of non-invasive, longitudinal monitoring of cancer patients. CTCs have been extensively studied in breast cancer (BC) and were shown to present a significant phenotypic plasticity connected with initiation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Apart from conferring malignant properties, EMT affects CTCs recovery rate, making a significant portion of CTCs from patients’ samples undetected. Wider application of methods and markers designed to isolate and identify mesenchymal CTCs is required to expand our knowledge about the clinical impact of mesenchymal CTCs. Therefore, here we provide a comprehensive review of clinical significance of mesenchymal CTCs in BC together with statistical analysis of previously published data, in which we assessed the suitability of a number of methods/markers used for isolation of CTCs with different EMT phenotypes, both in in vitro spike-in tests with BC cell lines, as well as clinical samples. Results of spiked-in cell lines indicate that, in general, methods not based on epithelial enrichment only, capture mesenchymal CTCs much more efficiently that CellSearch® (golden standard in CTCs detection), but at the same time are not much inferior to Cell Search®, though large variation in recovery rates of added cells among the methods is observed. In clinical samples, where additional CTCs detection markers are needed, positive epithelial-based CTCs enrichment was the most efficient in isolating CTCs with mesenchymal features from non-metastatic BC patients. From the marker side, PI3K and VIM were contributing the most to detection of CTCs with mesenchymal features (in comparison to SNAIL) in non-metastatic and metastatic BC patients, respectively. However, additional data are needed for more robust identification of markers for efficient detection of CTCs with mesenchymal features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justyna Topa
- Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk, Debinki 1, 80-211, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Peter Grešner
- Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk, Debinki 1, 80-211, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Anna J Żaczek
- Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk, Debinki 1, 80-211, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Markiewicz
- Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk, Debinki 1, 80-211, Gdansk, Poland.
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11
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Sigurdardottir AK, Hilmarsdottir B, Gudjonsson T, Traustadottir GA. Application of 3D Culture Assays to Study Breast Morphogenesis, Epithelial Plasticity, and Cellular Interactions in an Epithelial Progenitor Cell Line. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2429:391-403. [PMID: 35507176 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1979-7_26] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Capturing breast morphogenesis and cancer progression in 3D culture using cell lines with stem cell properties can greatly increase understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in these processes, highlighting the importance of the culture method. D492 is a breast epithelial progenitor cell line that provides a model for branching morphogenesis when cultured in 3D reconstituted basement membrane matrix (rBM). Along with its derivate cell lines D492M and D492HER2, D492 also serves as a robust model for epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and tumorigenicity, respectively. Here, we describe the routine maintenance and application of the D492 cell lines in 3D culture for the study of branching morphogenesis, EMT and epithelial-endothelial interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Karen Sigurdardottir
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | | | - Thorarinn Gudjonsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
- Department of Laboratory Hematology, Landspitali-University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Gunnhildur Asta Traustadottir
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
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12
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Wang Q, Karvelsson ST, Johannsson F, Vilhjalmsson AI, Hagen L, de Miranda Fonseca D, Sharma A, Slupphaug G, Rolfsson O. UDP-glucose dehydrogenase expression is upregulated following EMT and differentially affects intracellular glycerophosphocholine and acetylaspartate levels in breast mesenchymal cell lines. Mol Oncol 2021; 16:1816-1840. [PMID: 34942055 PMCID: PMC9067156 DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.13172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Metabolic rewiring is one of the indispensable drivers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) involved in breast cancer metastasis. In this study, we explored the metabolic changes during spontaneous EMT in three separately established breast EMT cell models using a proteomics approach supported by metabolomic analysis. We identified common proteomic changes, including in the expression of CDH1, CDH2, VIM, LGALS1, SERPINE1, PKP3, ATP2A2, JUP, MTCH2, RPL26L1 and PLOD2. Consistently altered metabolic enzymes included: FDFT1, SORD, TSTA3 and UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH). Of these, UGDH was most prominently altered and has previously been associated with breast cancer patient survival. siRNA-mediated knockdown of UGDH resulted in delayed cell proliferation and dampened invasive potential of mesenchymal cells, and downregulated expression of the EMT transcription factor SNAI1. Metabolomic analysis revealed that siRNA-mediated knockdown of UGDH decreased intracellular glycerophosphocholine (GPC), whereas levels of acetylaspartate (NAA) increased. Finally, our data suggested that platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRB) signaling was activated in mesenchymal cells. siRNA-mediated knockdown of PDGFRB downregulated UGDH expression, potentially via NFkB-p65. Our results support an unexplored relationship between UGDH and GPC, both of which have previously been independently associated with breast cancer progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiong Wang
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Sigurdur Trausti Karvelsson
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Freyr Johannsson
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Arnar Ingi Vilhjalmsson
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Lars Hagen
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, N-7491, Trondheim, Norway.,Clinic of Laboratory Medicine, St. Olavs hospital, Trondheim, Norway.,PROMEC Core Facility for Proteomics and Modomics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, and the Central Norway Regional Health Authority Norway, Norway
| | - Davi de Miranda Fonseca
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, N-7491, Trondheim, Norway.,Clinic of Laboratory Medicine, St. Olavs hospital, Trondheim, Norway.,PROMEC Core Facility for Proteomics and Modomics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, and the Central Norway Regional Health Authority Norway, Norway
| | - Animesh Sharma
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, N-7491, Trondheim, Norway.,Clinic of Laboratory Medicine, St. Olavs hospital, Trondheim, Norway.,PROMEC Core Facility for Proteomics and Modomics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, and the Central Norway Regional Health Authority Norway, Norway
| | - Geir Slupphaug
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, N-7491, Trondheim, Norway.,Clinic of Laboratory Medicine, St. Olavs hospital, Trondheim, Norway.,PROMEC Core Facility for Proteomics and Modomics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, and the Central Norway Regional Health Authority Norway, Norway
| | - Ottar Rolfsson
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland
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13
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Wang Q, Karvelsson ST, Kotronoulas A, Gudjonsson T, Halldorsson S, Rolfsson O. Glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate transaminase 2 (GFPT2) is upregulated in breast epithelial-mesenchymal transition and responds to oxidative stress. Mol Cell Proteomics 2021; 21:100185. [PMID: 34923141 PMCID: PMC8803663 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2021.100185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer cells that have undergone partial epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) are believed to be more invasive than cells that have completed EMT. To study metabolic reprogramming in different mesenchymal states, we analyzed protein expression following EMT in the breast epithelial cell model D492 with single-shot LFQ supported by a SILAC proteomics approach. The D492 EMT cell model contains three cell lines: the epithelial D492 cells, the mesenchymal D492M cells, and a partial mesenchymal, tumorigenic variant of D492 that overexpresses the oncogene HER2. The analysis classified the D492 and D492M cells as basal-like and D492HER2 as claudin-low. Comparative analysis of D492 and D492M to tumorigenic D492HER2 differentiated metabolic markers of migration from those of invasion. Glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate transaminase 2 (GFPT2) was one of the top dysregulated enzymes in D492HER2. Gene expression analysis of the cancer genome atlas showed that GFPT2 expression was a characteristic of claudin-low breast cancer. siRNA-mediated knockdown of GFPT2 influenced the EMT marker vimentin and both cell growth and invasion in vitro and was accompanied by lowered metabolic flux through the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP). Knockdown of GFPT2 decreased cystathionine and sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (SQOR) in the transsulfuration pathway that regulates H2S production and mitochondrial homeostasis. Moreover, GFPT2 was within the regulation network of insulin and EGF, and its expression was regulated by reduced glutathione (GSH) and suppressed by the oxidative stress regulator GSK3-β. Our results demonstrate that GFPT2 controls growth and invasion in the D492 EMT model, is a marker for oxidative stress, and associated with poor prognosis in claudin-low breast cancer. GFPT2 is upregulated following EMT. GFPT2 is a marker for claudin-low breast cancer. GFPT2 affects vimentin, cell proliferation, and cell invasion. GFPT2 responds to oxidative stress. GFPT2 is regulated by insulin and EGF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiong Wang
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Sigurdur Trausti Karvelsson
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Aristotelis Kotronoulas
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Thorarinn Gudjonsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegi 16, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Skarphedinn Halldorsson
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Ottar Rolfsson
- Center for Systems Biology, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland.
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14
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Hartmann RW, Pijnappel M, Nilvebrant J, Helgudottir HR, Asbjarnarson A, Traustadottir GA, Gudjonsson T, Nygren PÅ, Lehmann F, Odell LR. The Wittig bioconjugation of maleimide derived, water soluble phosphonium ylides to aldehyde-tagged proteins. Org Biomol Chem 2021; 19:10417-10423. [PMID: 34817496 DOI: 10.1039/d1ob01155c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Herein we disclose the transformation of maleimides into water-soluble tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphonium ylides and their subsequent application in the bioconjugation of protein- and peptide-linked aldehydes. The new entry into Wittig bioconjugate chemistry proceeds under mild conditions and relies on highly water soluble reagents, which are likely already part of most biochemists' inventory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael W Hartmann
- Recipharm OT Chemistry, Virdings allé 16, 75450 Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala Biomediciniska Centrum, Husargatan 3, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
| | | | - Johan Nilvebrant
- Department of Protein Science, Division of Protein Engineering, KTH School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biology and Health, AlbaNova Universitetscentrum, Roslagsvägen 30B, 10961 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Hildur Run Helgudottir
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Arni Asbjarnarson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | | | - Thorarinn Gudjonsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland.,Department of Laboratory Hematology, Landspítali-University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Per-Åke Nygren
- Department of Protein Science, Division of Protein Engineering, KTH School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biology and Health, AlbaNova Universitetscentrum, Roslagsvägen 30B, 10961 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Lehmann
- Recipharm OT Chemistry, Virdings allé 16, 75450 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Luke R Odell
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala Biomediciniska Centrum, Husargatan 3, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
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15
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Jiang Y, Zhou T, Shi Y, Feng W, Lyu T. A SMYD3/ITGB6/TGFβ1 Positive Feedback Loop Promotes the Invasion and Adhesion of Ovarian Cancer Spheroids. Front Oncol 2021; 11:690618. [PMID: 34621667 PMCID: PMC8490739 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.690618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Implantation metastasis is the main means of dissemination in ovarian cancer. Our previous studies showed that SET and MYND domain-containing protein 3 (SMYD3) expression was higher in ovarian cancer spheroids than in monolayers. SMYD3 enhancement of spheroid invasion and adhesion is mediated by the downstream effectors ITGB6 and ITGAM. However, the potential mechanisms underlying the SMYD3/integrin-mediated invasion and adhesion of spheroids still need to be explored. Methods Western blotting was used to examine the expression of SMYD3, ITGB6 and downstream molecules under different treatments. Immunofluorescence was used to detect the expression of F-actin, E-cadherin and N-cadherin. Anti-ITGB6 antibody-based inhibition and dual-luciferase reporter assays were used to confirm the binding between ITGB6 and latent TGFβ1. Transwell invasion, adherence and 3D tumor spheroid invasion assays were employed to test the effects of TGFβ1 on the invasion and adhesion of ovarian cancer spheroids. ELISA was performed to assess the release of latent TGFβ1 from ovarian cancer spheroids. Results SMYD3 and ITGB6 activated the TGFβ1/Smad3 pathway and then induced the upregulation of Snail, Vimentin and N-cadherin and the downregulation of E-cadherin in 3D-cultured ovarian cancer spheroids. In this process, latent TGFβ1 could bind to ITGB6 and become activated to stimulate the Smad3 pathway. Moreover, SMYD3 and ITGB6 could facilitate the release of latent TGFβ1 from 3D-cultured ovarian cancer spheroids. Interestingly, TGFβ1 could promote the expression of SMYD3 and ITGB6 via feedback. This positive feedback loop could further amplify the biological effect and promote the invasion and adhesion of ovarian cancer spheroids. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that the SMYD3/ITGB6/TGFβ1-Smad3 positive feedback loop could promote the invasion and adhesion of ovarian cancer spheroids by upregulating the expression of N-cadherin, Snail, and Vimentin and downregulating the expression of E-cadherin. Thus, our study unmasked the mechanism of SMYD3- and ITGB6-induced ovarian cancer metastasis and provides new ideas for targeted ovarian cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yahui Jiang
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Tianyu Zhou
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yiwen Shi
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Weiwei Feng
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Tianjiao Lyu
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
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16
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Lu M, Sha Y, Silva TC, Colaprico A, Sun X, Ban Y, Wang L, Lehmann BD, Chen XS. LR Hunting: A Random Forest Based Cell-Cell Interaction Discovery Method for Single-Cell Gene Expression Data. Front Genet 2021; 12:708835. [PMID: 34497635 PMCID: PMC8420858 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.708835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Cell–cell interactions (CCIs) and cell–cell communication (CCC) are critical for maintaining complex biological systems. The availability of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data opens new avenues for deciphering CCIs and CCCs through identifying ligand-receptor (LR) gene interactions between cells. However, most methods were developed to examine the LR interactions of individual pairs of genes. Here, we propose a novel approach named LR hunting which first uses random forests (RFs)-based data imputation technique to link the data between different cell types. To guarantee the robustness of the data imputation procedure, we repeat the computation procedures multiple times to generate aggregated imputed minimal depth index (IMDI). Next, we identify significant LR interactions among all combinations of LR pairs simultaneously using unsupervised RFs. We demonstrated LR hunting can recover biological meaningful CCIs using a mouse cellular indexing of transcriptomes and epitopes by sequencing (CITE-seq) dataset and a triple-negative breast cancer scRNA-seq dataset.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Lu
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Yifan Sha
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Tiago C Silva
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Antonio Colaprico
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Xiaodian Sun
- Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Yuguang Ban
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States.,Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Lily Wang
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States.,Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States.,Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States.,John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Brian D Lehmann
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States.,Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - X Steven Chen
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States.,Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
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17
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Charifou E, Traustadottir GA, Bentires-Alj M, Howard B, Van Keymeulen A. Twelfth Annual ENBDC Workshop: Methods in Mammary Gland Biology and Breast Cancer. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 2021; 26:221-226. [PMID: 34448098 PMCID: PMC8390087 DOI: 10.1007/s10911-021-09498-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The twelfth annual workshop of the European Network for Breast Development and Cancer focused on methods in mammary gland biology and breast cancer, was scheduled to take place on March 26-28, 2020, in Weggis, Switzerland. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was rescheduled twice and eventually happened as a virtual meeting on April 22 and 23, 2021. The main topics of the meeting were branching and development of the mammary gland, tumor microenvironment, circulating tumor cells, tumor dormancy and breast cancer metastasis. Novel and unpublished findings related to these topics were presented, with a particular focus on the methods used to obtain them. Virtual poster sessions were a success, with many constructive and fruitful interactions between researchers and covered many areas of mammary gland biology and breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elsa Charifou
- Cellular Plasticity and Disease Modeling, Department of Developmental & Stem Cell Biology, CNRS UMR3738 - Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Dr Roux, 75015, Paris, France
| | - Gunnhildur Asta Traustadottir
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Mohamed Bentires-Alj
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Beatrice Howard
- The Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Alexandra Van Keymeulen
- Laboratory of Stem Cells and Cancer, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium.
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18
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Epigenetic Silencing of HER2 Expression during Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Leads to Trastuzumab Resistance in Breast Cancer. Life (Basel) 2021; 11:life11090868. [PMID: 34575017 PMCID: PMC8472246 DOI: 10.3390/life11090868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2021] [Revised: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
HER2 receptor tyrosine kinase (encoded by the ERBB2 gene) is overexpressed in approximately 25% of all breast cancer tumors (HER2-positive breast cancers). Resistance to HER2-targeting therapies is partially due to the loss of HER2 expression in tumor cells during treatment. However, little is known about the exact mechanism of HER2 downregulation in HER2-positive tumor cells. Here, by analyzing publicly available genomic data we investigate the hypothesis that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) abrogates HER2 expression by epigenetic silencing of the ERBB2 gene as a mechanism of acquired resistance to HER2-targeted therapies. As result, HER2 expression was found to be positively and negatively correlated with the expression of epithelial and mesenchymal phenotype marker genes, respectively. The ERBB2 chromatin of HER2-high epithelial-like breast cancer cells and HER2-low mesenchymal-like cells were found to be open/active and closed/inactive, respectively. Decreased HER2 expression was correlated with increased EMT phenotype, inactivated chromatin and lower response to lapatinib. We also found that induction of EMT in the HER2-positive breast cancer cell line BT474 resulted in downregulated HER2 expression and reduced trastuzumab binding. Our results suggest that ERBB2 gene silencing by epigenetic regulation during EMT may be a mechanism of de novo resistance of HER2-positive breast cancer cells to trastuzumab and lapatinib.
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19
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Barkovskaya A, Goodwin CM, Seip K, Hilmarsdottir B, Pettersen S, Stalnecker C, Engebraaten O, Briem E, Der CJ, Moestue SA, Gudjonsson T, Maelandsmo GM, Prasmickaite L. Detection of phenotype-specific therapeutic vulnerabilities in breast cells using a CRISPR loss-of-function screen. Mol Oncol 2021; 15:2026-2045. [PMID: 33759347 PMCID: PMC8333781 DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.12951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2020] [Revised: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Cellular phenotype plasticity between the epithelial and mesenchymal states has been linked to metastasis and heterogeneous responses to cancer therapy, and remains a challenge for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Here, we used isogenic human breast epithelial cell lines, D492 and D492M, representing the epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes, respectively. We employed a CRISPR-Cas9 loss-of-function screen targeting a 2240-gene 'druggable genome' to identify phenotype-specific vulnerabilities. Cells with the epithelial phenotype were more vulnerable to the loss of genes related to EGFR-RAS-MAPK signaling, while the mesenchymal-like cells had increased sensitivity to knockout of G2 -M cell cycle regulators. Furthermore, we discovered knockouts that sensitize to the mTOR inhibitor everolimus and the chemotherapeutic drug fluorouracil in a phenotype-specific manner. Specifically, loss of EGFR and fatty acid synthase (FASN) increased the effectiveness of the drugs in the epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes, respectively. These phenotype-associated genetic vulnerabilities were confirmed using targeted inhibitors of EGFR (gefitinib), G2 -M transition (STLC), and FASN (Fasnall). In conclusion, a CRISPR-Cas9 loss-of-function screen enables the identification of phenotype-specific genetic vulnerabilities that can pinpoint actionable targets and promising therapeutic combinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Barkovskaya
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Craig M Goodwin
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Kotryna Seip
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Bylgja Hilmarsdottir
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.,Department of Pathology, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Solveig Pettersen
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Clint Stalnecker
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Olav Engebraaten
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.,Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, Norway
| | - Eirikur Briem
- Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.,Department of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Channing J Der
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Siver A Moestue
- Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.,Department of Health Sciences, Nord University, Bodø, Norway
| | - Thorarinn Gudjonsson
- Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.,Department of Laboratory Hematology, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Gunhild M Maelandsmo
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Biology, The Arctic University of Norway - University of Tromsø, Norway
| | - Lina Prasmickaite
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
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20
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Kocemba-Pilarczyk KA, Dudzik P, Leśkiewicz K. The relationship between expression of VIMENTIN and CD146 genes in breast cancer. BIO-ALGORITHMS AND MED-SYSTEMS 2021. [DOI: 10.1515/bams-2020-0058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Objectives
CD146 is an adhesive molecule that was originally reported on malignant melanoma cells as a protein crucial for cell adhesion. It is now known that high expression of the CD146 protein is not only characteristic of melanoma, but it occurs on a number of cancers, contributing to worse prognosis and increased aggressiveness. Independent in vitro studies in breast cancer have shown that CD146 protein alone can induce a change in epithelial to mesenchymal transcriptional profile, which is the basis of the tumor aggressiveness and metastasis.
Methods
In the following work, the correlation coefficients were analyzed between the genes of the mesenchymal profile and the CD146 gene in 10 independent transcriptomic data of breast cancer patients.
Results
The analysis confirmed the relationship between CD146 expression and mesenchymal profile genes, pointing VIMENTIN as the gene which expression is most strongly correlated with the CD146, suggesting that both genes, CD146 and VIM may be directly controlled by the same mechanism or regulate one another.
Conclusions
The analysis points a potential route for research on the CD146 gene expression, which may lead to understanding of its regulation in breast cancer, contributing to the development of new therapeutic strategies targeting highly metastatic breast cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kinga A. Kocemba-Pilarczyk
- Chair of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University – Medical College , Krakow , Poland
| | - Paulina Dudzik
- Chair of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University – Medical College , Krakow , Poland
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21
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EGFR Expression in HER2-Driven Breast Cancer Cells. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21239008. [PMID: 33260837 PMCID: PMC7729501 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21239008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2020] [Revised: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The epidermal growth factor receptor HER2 is overexpressed in 20% of breast cancer cases. HER2 is an orphan receptor that is activated ligand-independently by homodimerization. In addition, HER2 is able to heterodimerize with EGFR, HER3, and HER4. Heterodimerization has been proposed as a mechanism of resistance to therapy for HER2 overexpressing breast cancer. Here, a method is presented for the simultaneous detection of individual EGFR and HER2 receptors in the plasma membrane of breast cancer cells via specific labeling with quantum dot nanoparticles (QDs). Correlative fluorescence microscopy and liquid phase electron microscopy were used to analyze the plasma membrane expression levels of both receptors in individual intact cells. Fluorescent single-cell analysis of SKBR3 breast cancer cells dual-labeled for EGFR and HER2 revealed a heterogeneous expression for receptors within both the cell population as well as within individual cells. Subsequent electron microscopy of individual cells allowed the determination of individual receptors label distributions. QD-labeled EGFR was observed with a surface density of (0.5–5) × 101 QDs/µm2, whereas labeled HER2 expression was higher ranging from (2–10) × 102 QDs/µm2. Although most SKBR3 cells expressed low levels of EGFR, an enrichment was observed at large plasma membrane protrusions, and amongst a newly discovered cellular subpopulation termed EGFR-enriched cells.
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22
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Do M, Kim H, Yeo I, Lee J, Park IA, Ryu HS, Kim Y. Clinical Application of Multiple Reaction Monitoring-Mass Spectrometry to Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Measurements as a Potential Diagnostic Tool for Breast Cancer Therapy. Clin Chem 2020; 66:1339-1348. [DOI: 10.1093/clinchem/hvaa178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is often overexpressed in breast cancer and correlates with a worse prognosis. Thus, the accurate detection of HER2 is crucial for providing the appropriate measures for patients. However, the current techniques used to detect HER2 status, immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), have limitations. Specifically, FISH, which is mandatory for arbitrating 2+ cases, is time-consuming and costly. To address this shortcoming, we established a multiple reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry (MRM-MS) assay that improves on existing methods for differentiating HER2 status.
Methods
We quantified HER2 expression levels in 210 breast cancer formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples by MRM-MS. We aimed to improve the accuracy and precision of HER2 quantification by simplifying the sample preparation through predicting the number of FFPE slides required to ensure an adequate amount of protein and using the expression levels of an epithelial cell-specific protein as a normalization factor when measuring HER2 expression levels.
Results
To assess the correlation between MRM-MS and IHC/FISH data, HER2 quantitative data from MRM-MS were divided by the expression levels of junctional adhesion molecule A, an epithelial cell-specific protein, prior to statistical analysis. The normalized HER2 amounts distinguished between HER2 2+/FISH-negative and 2+/FISH-positive groups (AUROC = 0.908), which could not be differentiated by IHC. In addition, all HER2 status were discriminated by MRM-MS.
Conclusions
This MRM-MS assay yields more accurate HER2 expression levels relative to immunohistochemistry and should help to guide clinicians toward the proper treatment for breast cancer patients, based on their HER2 expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Misol Do
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyunsoo Kim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Injoon Yeo
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jihyeon Lee
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - In Ae Park
- Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Han Suk Ryu
- Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Youngsoo Kim
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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23
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Schepsky A, Traustadottir GA, Joelsson JP, Ingthorsson S, Kricker J, Bergthorsson JT, Asbjarnarson A, Gudjonsson T, Nupponen N, Slipicevic A, Lehmann F, Gudjonsson T. Melflufen, a peptide-conjugated alkylator, is an efficient anti-neo-plastic drug in breast cancer cell lines. Cancer Med 2020; 9:6726-6738. [PMID: 32717133 PMCID: PMC7520280 DOI: 10.1002/cam4.3300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Revised: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Melphalan flufenamide (hereinafter referred to as “melflufen”) is a peptide‐conjugated drug currently in phase 3 trials for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Due to its lipophilic nature, it readily enters cells, where it is converted to the known alkylator melphalan leading to enrichment of hydrophilic alkylator payloads. Here, we have analysed in vitro and in vivo the efficacy of melflufen on normal and cancerous breast epithelial lines. D492 is a normal‐derived nontumorigenic epithelial progenitor cell line whereas D492HER2 is a tumorigenic version of D492, overexpressing the HER2 oncogene. In addition we used triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA‐MB231. The tumorigenic D492HER2 and MDA‐MB231 cells were more sensitive than normal‐derived D492 cells when treated with melflufen. Compared to the commonly used anti‐cancer drug doxorubicin, melflufen was significantly more effective in reducing cell viability in vitro while it showed comparable effects in vivo. However, melflufen was more efficient in inhibiting metastasis of MDA‐MB231 cells. Melflufen induced DNA damage was confirmed by the expression of the DNA damage proteins ƴH2Ax and 53BP1. The effect of melflufen on D492HER2 was attenuated if cells were pretreated with the aminopeptidase inhibitor bestatin, which is consistent with previous reports demonstrating the importance of aminopeptidase CD13 in facilitating melflufen cleavage. Moreover, analysis of CD13high and CD13low subpopulations of D492HER2 cells and knockdown of CD13 showed that melflufen efficacy is mediated at least in part by CD13. Knockdown of LAP3 and DPP7 aminopeptidases led to similar efficacy reduction, suggesting that also other aminopeptidases may facilitate melflufen conversion. In summary, we have shown that melflufen is a highly efficient anti‐neoplastic agent in breast cancer cell lines and its efficacy is facilitated by aminopeptidases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Schepsky
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | | | - Jon Petur Joelsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Saevar Ingthorsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Jennifer Kricker
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Jon Thor Bergthorsson
- Department of Laboratory Hematology, University Hospital, Landspitali, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Arni Asbjarnarson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | | | | | | | | | - Thorarinn Gudjonsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.,Department of Laboratory Hematology, University Hospital, Landspitali, Reykjavik, Iceland
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24
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Steinhaeuser SS, Morera E, Budkova Z, Schepsky A, Wang Q, Rolfsson O, Riedel A, Krueger A, Hilmarsdottir B, Maelandsmo GM, Valdimarsdottir B, Sigurdardottir AK, Agnarsson BA, Jonasson JG, Ingthorsson S, Traustadottir GA, Oskarsson T, Gudjonsson T. ECM1 secreted by HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells promotes formation of a vascular niche accelerating cancer cell migration and invasion. J Transl Med 2020; 100:928-944. [PMID: 32203150 DOI: 10.1038/s41374-020-0415-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2019] [Revised: 02/25/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The tumor microenvironment is increasingly recognized as key player in cancer progression. Investigating heterotypic interactions between cancer cells and their microenvironment is important for understanding how specific cell types support cancer. Forming the vasculature, endothelial cells (ECs) are a prominent cell type in the microenvironment of both normal and neoplastic breast gland. Here, we sought out to analyze epithelial-endothelial cross talk in the breast using isogenic non-tumorigenic vs. tumorigenic breast epithelial cell lines and primary ECs. The cellular model used here consists of D492, a breast epithelial cell line with stem cell properties, and two isogenic D492-derived EMT cell lines, D492M and D492HER2. D492M was generated by endothelial-induced EMT and is non-tumorigenic while D492HER2 is tumorigenic, expressing the ErbB2/HER2 oncogene. To investigate cellular cross talk, we used both conditioned medium (CM) and 2D/3D co-culture systems. Secretome analysis of D492 cell lines was performed using mass spectrometry and candidate knockdown (KD), and overexpression (OE) was done using siRNA and CRISPRi/CRISPRa technology. D492HER2 directly enhances endothelial network formation and activates a molecular axis in ECs promoting D492HER2 migration and invasion, suggesting an endothelial feedback response. Secretome analysis identified extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1) as potential angiogenic inducer in D492HER2. Confirming its involvement, KD of ECM1 reduced the ability of D492HER2-CM to increase endothelial network formation and induce the endothelial feedback, while recombinant ECM1 (rECM1) increased both. Interestingly, NOTCH1 and NOTCH3 expression was upregulated in ECs upon treatment with D492HER2-CM or rECM1 but not by CM from D492HER2 with ECM1 KD. Blocking endothelial NOTCH signaling inhibited the increase in network formation and the ability of ECs to promote D492HER2 migration and invasion. In summary, our data demonstrate that cancer-secreted ECM1 induces a NOTCH-mediated endothelial feedback promoting cancer progression by enhancing migration and invasion. Targeting this interaction may provide a novel possibility to improve cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Sarah Steinhaeuser
- Department of Anatomy, Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Erika Morera
- Department of Anatomy, Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Zuzana Budkova
- Department of Anatomy, Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Alexander Schepsky
- Department of Anatomy, Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Qiong Wang
- Center for Systems Biology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Ottar Rolfsson
- Center for Systems Biology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Angela Riedel
- Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine (HI-STEM gGmbH), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.,Division of Stem Cells and Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Aileen Krueger
- Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine (HI-STEM gGmbH), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.,Division of Stem Cells and Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Bylgja Hilmarsdottir
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Gunhild Mari Maelandsmo
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Bryndis Valdimarsdottir
- Department of Anatomy, Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Anna Karen Sigurdardottir
- Department of Anatomy, Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Bjarni Agnar Agnarsson
- Department of Pathology, Landspitali-University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.,Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Jon Gunnlaugur Jonasson
- Department of Pathology, Landspitali-University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.,Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Saevar Ingthorsson
- Department of Anatomy, Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Gunnhildur Asta Traustadottir
- Department of Anatomy, Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Thordur Oskarsson
- Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine (HI-STEM gGmbH), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.,Division of Stem Cells and Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.,German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Thorarinn Gudjonsson
- Department of Anatomy, Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. .,Center for Systems Biology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. .,Department of Laboratory Hematology, Landspitali-University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.
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25
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Minond D. Novel Approaches and Challenges of Discovery of Exosite Modulators of a Disintegrin and Metalloprotease 10. Front Mol Biosci 2020; 7:75. [PMID: 32435655 PMCID: PMC7218085 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.00075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A disintegrin and metaproteinase 10 is an important target for multiple therapeutic areas, however, despite drug discovery efforts by both industry and academia no compounds have reached the clinic so far. The lack of enzyme and substrate selectivity of developmental drugs is believed to be a main obstacle to the success. In this review, we will focus on novel approaches and associated challenges in discovery of ADAM10 selective modulators that can overcome shortcomings of previous generations of compounds and be translated into the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dmitriy Minond
- Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States.,Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States
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26
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Nini A, Hoffmann MJ, Lampignano R, Große Siemer R, van Dalum G, Szarvas T, Cotarelo CL, Schulz WA, Niederacher D, Neubauer H, Stoecklein NH, Niegisch G. Evaluation of HER2 expression in urothelial carcinoma cells as a biomarker for circulating tumor cells. CYTOMETRY PART B-CLINICAL CYTOMETRY 2020; 98:355-367. [PMID: 32212383 DOI: 10.1002/cyto.b.21877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2019] [Revised: 02/25/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTC) by techniques based on epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is suboptimal in urothelial carcinoma (UC). As HER2 is thought to be broadly expressed in UC, we explored its utility for CTC detection. METHODS HER2 and EpCAM expression was analyzed in 18 UC cell lines (UCCs) by qRT-PCR, western blot and fluorescence-activated cell scanning (FACS) and compared to the strongly HER2-expressing breast cancer cell line SKBR3 and other controls. HER2 expression in UC patient tissues was measured by qRT PCR and correlated with data on survival and risk for metastasis. UCCs with high EpCAM and variable HER2 expression were used for spike-in experiments in the CellSearch system. Twenty-one blood samples from 13 metastatic UC patients were analyzed for HER2-positive CTCs with CellSearch. RESULTS HER2 mRNA and protein were broadly expressed in UCC, with some heterogeneity, but at least 10-fold lower than in the HER-2+ SKBR3 cells. Variations were unrelated to cellular phenotype or clinicopathological characteristics. EpCAM expression was essentially restricted to UCCs with epitheloid phenotypes. Heterogeneity of EpCAM and HER2 expression was observed also in spike-in experiments. The 7 of 21 blood samples from 6 of 13 patients were enumerated as CTC positive via EpCAM, but only one sample stained weakly positive (1+) for HER2. CONCLUSIONS Detection rate of CTCs by EpCAM in UC is poor, even in metastatic patients. Because of its widespread expression, particularly in patients with high risk of metastasis, detection of HER2 could improve identification of UC CTCs, which is why combined detection using antibodies for EpCAM and HER2 may be beneficial.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Nini
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.,Department of Urology, Saarland University, Homburg/Saar, Germany
| | - Michèle Janine Hoffmann
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Rita Lampignano
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Robert Große Siemer
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Guus van Dalum
- Department of General, Visceral and Pediatric Surgery, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Tibor Szarvas
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.,Department of Urology, Semmelweis University Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Cristina Lopez Cotarelo
- Department of Pathology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Arthur Schulz
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Dieter Niederacher
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.,Disseminated Cancer Cell Network (DCCNet) Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Hans Neubauer
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.,Disseminated Cancer Cell Network (DCCNet) Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Nikolas Hendrik Stoecklein
- Department of General, Visceral and Pediatric Surgery, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.,Disseminated Cancer Cell Network (DCCNet) Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Günter Niegisch
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital of the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
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27
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Liu Q, Borcherding NC, Shao P, Maina PK, Zhang W, Qi HH. Contribution of synergism between PHF8 and HER2 signalling to breast cancer development and drug resistance. EBioMedicine 2020; 51:102612. [PMID: 31923801 PMCID: PMC7000350 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.102612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND HER2 plays a critical role in tumourigenesis and is associated with poor prognosis of patients with HER2-positive breast cancers. Although anti-HER2 drugs are beneficial for treating breast cancer, de novo, or acquired resistance often develops. Epigenetic factors are increasingly targeted for therapy; however, such mechanisms that interact with HER2 signalling are poorly understood. METHODS RNA sequencing was performed to identify PHF8 targets downstream of HER2 signalling. CHIP-qPCR were used to investigate how PHF8 regulates HER2 transcription. ELISA determined cytokine secretion. Cell-based assay revealed a feed forward loop in HER2 signalling and then evaluated in vivo. FINDINGS We report the synergistic interplay between histone demethylase PHF8 and HER2 signalling. Specifically, PHF8 levels were elevated in HER2-positive breast cancers and upregulated by HER2. PHF8 functioned as a coactivator that regulated the expression of HER2, markers of the HER2-driven epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and cytokines. The HER2-PHF8-IL-6 regulatory axis was active in cell lines and in newly established MMTV-Her2/MMTV-Cre/Phf8fl°x/fl°x mouse models, which revealed the oncogenic function of Phf8 in breast cancer for the first time. Further, the PHF8-IL-6 axis contributed to the resistance to trastuzumab in vitro and may play a critical role in the infiltration of T cells in HER2-driven breast cancers. INTERPRETATION These findings provided informative mechanistic insight into the potential application of PHF8 inhibitors to overcome resistance to anti-HER2 therapies. FUNDING This work was supported by Carver Trust Young Investigator Award (01-224 to H.H.Q); and a Breast Cancer Research Award (to H.H.Q.).
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Liu
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA; Department of Urology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA
| | - Nicholas C Borcherding
- Department of Pathology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
| | - Peng Shao
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
| | - Peterson K Maina
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA
| | - Weizhou Zhang
- Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610-0275, USA
| | - Hank H Qi
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
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28
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Fukuda R, Aharonov A, Ong YT, Stone OA, El-Brolosy M, Maischein HM, Potente M, Tzahor E, Stainier DY. Metabolic modulation regulates cardiac wall morphogenesis in zebrafish. eLife 2019; 8:50161. [PMID: 31868165 PMCID: PMC7000217 DOI: 10.7554/elife.50161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
During cardiac development, cardiomyocytes form complex inner wall structures called trabeculae. Despite significant investigation into this process, the potential role of metabolism has not been addressed. Using single cell resolution imaging in zebrafish, we find that cardiomyocytes seeding the trabecular layer actively change their shape while compact layer cardiomyocytes remain static. We show that Erbb2 signaling, which is required for trabeculation, activates glycolysis to support changes in cardiomyocyte shape and behavior. Pharmacological inhibition of glycolysis impairs cardiac trabeculation, and cardiomyocyte-specific loss- and gain-of-function manipulations of glycolysis decrease and increase trabeculation, respectively. In addition, loss of the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase M2 impairs trabeculation. Experiments with rat neonatal cardiomyocytes in culture further support these observations. Our findings reveal new roles for glycolysis in regulating cardiomyocyte behavior during cardiac wall morphogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryuichi Fukuda
- Department of Developmental Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Ludwigstrasse, Germany
| | - Alla Aharonov
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yu Ting Ong
- Angiogenesis & Metabolism Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Ludwigstrasse, Germany
| | - Oliver A Stone
- Department of Developmental Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Ludwigstrasse, Germany
| | - Mohamed El-Brolosy
- Department of Developmental Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Ludwigstrasse, Germany
| | - Hans-Martin Maischein
- Department of Developmental Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Ludwigstrasse, Germany
| | - Michael Potente
- Angiogenesis & Metabolism Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Ludwigstrasse, Germany
| | - Eldad Tzahor
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Didier Yr Stainier
- Department of Developmental Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Ludwigstrasse, Germany
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29
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Luo X, He Y, Tang H, Cao Y, Gao M, Liu B, Hu Z. Effects of HER2 on the invasion and migration of gastric cancer. Am J Transl Res 2019; 11:7604-7613. [PMID: 31934304 PMCID: PMC6943443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) initiates a variety of signals that lead to the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer. Though drugs targeting HER2 have been applied in clinical practice, drug resistance remains a big challenge. This study aimed to propose a new therapeutic target by exploring the regulating pathway of HER2. METHODS Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blot and immunohistochemistry staining were used respectively to detect the expression of HER2, Twist, E-cadherin and Fascin1 in both HER2 knockdown and overexpressed cell lines. Trans-well chamber assay and wound healing assay were used to detect the invasive ability of gastric cancer cells. The correlation between HER2 and Twist was analyzed based on specimens obtained from 118 patients with gastric cancer. RESULTS HER2 silencing decreased the expression of Twist (P<0.05) and increased the expression of E-cadherin (P<0.05), while the expression of Fascin1 remained unchanged (P>0.05) and the migration and invasion abilities of cancer cells were weakened (P<0.01). On the contrary overexpression of HER2 increased the expression of Twist (P<0.05) and decreased the expression of E-cadherin (P<0.05), while the expression of Fascin1 still remained unchanged (P>0.05), and the migration and invasion abilities of cancer cells were enhanced (P<0.01). Our data indicated that the HER2 kinase domain was not involved in the regulation of Twist or E-cadherin. In addition, the expression of HER2 was positively correlated with the EMT-related transcription factor Twist in gastric cancer tissues. CONCLUSION HER2 could promote the invasion and migration of gastric cancer cells by down-regulating E-cadherin and up-regulating Twist, which indicated that E-cadherin and Twist were both promising therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaojuan Luo
- Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University87 Xiangya Road, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
| | - Yuchen He
- Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University87 Xiangya Road, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
| | - Haosheng Tang
- Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University87 Xiangya Road, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
| | - Yiqu Cao
- Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University87 Xiangya Road, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
| | - Menghui Gao
- Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University87 Xiangya Road, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
| | - Baoan Liu
- Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University87 Xiangya Road, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- Department of Pathology, Basic Medical Institute, Central South University172 Tongzi Road, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Zhongliang Hu
- Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University87 Xiangya Road, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- Department of Pathology, Basic Medical Institute, Central South University172 Tongzi Road, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China
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30
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Punzi S, Balestrieri C, D'Alesio C, Bossi D, Dellino GI, Gatti E, Pruneri G, Criscitiello C, Lovati G, Meliksetyan M, Carugo A, Curigliano G, Natoli G, Pelicci PG, Lanfrancone L. WDR5 inhibition halts metastasis dissemination by repressing the mesenchymal phenotype of breast cancer cells. Breast Cancer Res 2019; 21:123. [PMID: 31752957 PMCID: PMC6873410 DOI: 10.1186/s13058-019-1216-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2019] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Development of metastases and drug resistance are still a challenge for a successful systemic treatment in breast cancer (BC) patients. One of the mechanisms that confer metastatic properties to the cell relies in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Moreover, both EMT and metastasis are partly modulated through epigenetic mechanisms, by repression or induction of specific related genes. Methods We applied shRNAs and drug targeting approaches in BC cell lines and metastatic patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models to inhibit WDR5, the core subunit of histone H3 K4 methyltransferase complexes, and evaluate its role in metastasis regulation. Result We report that WDR5 is crucial in regulating tumorigenesis and metastasis spreading during BC progression. In particular, WDR5 loss reduces the metastatic properties of the cells by reverting the mesenchymal phenotype of triple negative- and luminal B-derived cells, thus inducing an epithelial trait. We also suggest that this regulation is mediated by TGFβ1, implying a prominent role of WDR5 in driving EMT through TGFβ1 activation. Moreover, such EMT reversion can be induced by drug targeting of WDR5 as well, leading to BC cell sensitization to chemotherapy and enhancement of paclitaxel-dependent effects. Conclusions We suggest that WDR5 inhibition could be a promising pharmacologic approach to reduce cell migration, revert EMT, and block metastasis formation in BC, thus overcoming resistance to standard treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Punzi
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Balestrieri
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.,Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele (MI), 20090, Italy.,Humanitas Clinical and Research Institute, Rozzano (MI), 20089, Italy
| | - Carolina D'Alesio
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.,Present address: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (Di.M.I), University of Genova, Genoa, Italy
| | - Daniela Bossi
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.,Present address: Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Gaetano Ivan Dellino
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.,Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Elena Gatti
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Pruneri
- Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.,Department of Pathology, Biobank for Translational Medicine Unit, European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS, Milan, Italy.,Present address: Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori - Fondazione IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Carmen Criscitiello
- Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.,Division of Early Drug Development for Innovative Therapy, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Lovati
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Marine Meliksetyan
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Alessandro Carugo
- Institute for Applied Cancer Science, UT MD Anderson Cancer Cente, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Giuseppe Curigliano
- Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.,Division of Early Drug Development for Innovative Therapy, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Gioacchino Natoli
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.,Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele (MI), 20090, Italy.,Humanitas Clinical and Research Institute, Rozzano (MI), 20089, Italy
| | - Pier Giuseppe Pelicci
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.,Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Luisa Lanfrancone
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
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31
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YKL-40/CHI3L1 facilitates migration and invasion in HER2 overexpressing breast epithelial progenitor cells and generates a niche for capillary-like network formation. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim 2019; 55:838-853. [PMID: 31482369 PMCID: PMC6881255 DOI: 10.1007/s11626-019-00403-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a developmental event that is hijacked in some diseases such as fibrosis and cancer. In cancer, EMT has been linked to increased invasion and metastasis and is generally associated with a poor prognosis. In this study, we have compared phenotypic and functional differences between two isogenic cell lines with an EMT profile: D492M and D492HER2 that are both derived from D492, a breast epithelial cell line with stem cell properties. D492M is non-tumorigenic while D492HER2 is tumorigenic. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the expression profile of these cell lines, identify potential oncogenes, and evaluate their effects on cellular phenotype. We performed transcriptome and secretome analyses of D492M and D492HER2 and verified expression of selected genes at the RNA and protein level. One candidate, YKL-40 (also known as CHI3L1), was selected for further studies due to its differential expression between D492M and D492HER2, being considerably higher in D492HER2. YKL-40 has been linked to chronic inflammation diseases and cancer, yet its function is not fully understood. Knock-down experiments of YKL-40 in D492HER2 resulted in reduced migration and invasion as well as reduced ability to induce angiogenesis in an in vitro assay, plus changes in the EMT-phenotype. In summary, our data suggest that YKL-40 may provide D492HER2 with increased aggressiveness, supporting cancer progression and facilitating angiogenesis.
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32
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Baker AEG, Bahlmann LC, Tam RY, Liu JC, Ganesh AN, Mitrousis N, Marcellus R, Spears M, Bartlett JMS, Cescon DW, Bader GD, Shoichet MS. Benchmarking to the Gold Standard: Hyaluronan-Oxime Hydrogels Recapitulate Xenograft Models with In Vitro Breast Cancer Spheroid Culture. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2019; 31:e1901166. [PMID: 31322299 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201901166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2019] [Revised: 06/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Many 3D in vitro models induce breast cancer spheroid formation; however, this alone does not recapitulate the complex in vivo phenotype. To effectively screen therapeutics, it is urgently needed to validate in vitro cancer spheroid models against the gold standard of xenografts. A new oxime-crosslinked hyaluronan (HA) hydrogel is designed, manipulating gelation rate and mechanical properties to grow breast cancer spheroids in 3D. This HA-oxime breast cancer model maintains the gene expression profile most similar to that of tumor xenografts based on a pan-cancer gene expression profile (comprising 730 genes) of three different human breast cancer subtypes compared to Matrigel or conventional 2D culture. Differences in gene expression between breast cancer cultures in HA-oxime versus Matrigel or 2D are confirmed for 12 canonical pathways by gene set variation analysis. Importantly, drug response is dependent on the culture method. Breast cancer cells respond better to the Rac inhibitor (EHT-1864) and the PI3K inhibitor (AZD6482) when cultured in HA-oxime versus Matrigel. This study demonstrates the superiority of an HA-based hydrogel as a platform for in vitro breast cancer culture of both primary, patient-derived cells and cell lines, and provides a hydrogel culture model that closely matches that in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander E G Baker
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, 160 College St, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E5, Canada
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada
| | - Laura C Bahlmann
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, 160 College St, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada
| | - Roger Y Tam
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, 160 College St, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E5, Canada
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada
| | - Jeffrey C Liu
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, 160 College St, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada
| | - Ahil N Ganesh
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, 160 College St, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E5, Canada
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada
| | - Nikolaos Mitrousis
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, 160 College St, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada
| | - Richard Marcellus
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, MaRS Centre, 661 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A3, Canada
| | - Melanie Spears
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, MaRS Centre, 661 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A3, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8, Canada
| | - John M S Bartlett
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, MaRS Centre, 661 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A3, Canada
| | - David W Cescon
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 610 University Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2C1, Canada
| | - Gary D Bader
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, 160 College St, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Molly S Shoichet
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, 160 College St, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E5, Canada
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada
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The d16HER2 Splice Variant: A Friend or Foe of HER2-Positive Cancers? Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:cancers11070902. [PMID: 31261614 PMCID: PMC6678616 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11070902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2019] [Revised: 06/24/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ERBB2 or HER2) amplification/overexpression is associated with a particularly aggressive molecular subtype of breast cancer (BC), characterized by a poor prognosis, increased metastatic potential, and disease recurrence. As only approximately 50% of HER2-positive patients respond to HER2-targeted therapies, greater knowledge of the biology of HER2 and the mechanisms that underlie drug susceptibility is needed to improve cure rates. Evidence suggests that the coexistence of full-length, wild-type HER2 (wtHER2) and altered forms of HER2—such as carboxy-terminus-truncated fragments, activating mutations, and splice variants—significantly increases the heterogeneity of HER2-positive disease, affecting its biology, clinical course, and treatment response. In particular, expression of the d16HER2 splice variant in human HER2-positive BC has a crucial pathobiological function, wherein the absence of sixteen amino acids from the extracellular domain induces the formation of stable and constitutively active HER2 homodimers on the tumor cell surface. Notably, the d16HER2 variant significantly influences the initiation and aggressiveness of tumors, cancer stem cell properties, epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), and the susceptibility of HER2-positive BC cells to trastuzumab compared with its wtHER2 counterpart, thus constituting a novel and potentially clinically useful biomarker. The aims of this review are to summarize the existing evidence regarding the pathobiological functions of the d16HER2 variant and discuss its current and future value with regard to risk assessment and treatment choices in HER2-positive disease.
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34
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Briem E, Ingthorsson S, Traustadottir GA, Hilmarsdottir B, Gudjonsson T. Application of the D492 Cell Lines to Explore Breast Morphogenesis, EMT and Cancer Progression in 3D Culture. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 2019; 24:139-147. [PMID: 30684066 DOI: 10.1007/s10911-018-09424-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The human female breast gland is composed of branching epithelial ducts that extend from the nipple towards the terminal duct lobular units (TDLUs), which are the functional, milk-producing units of the gland and the site of origin of most breast cancers. The epithelium of ducts and TDLUs is composed of an inner layer of polarized luminal epithelial cells and an outer layer of contractile myoepithelial cells, separated from the vascular-rich stroma by a basement membrane. The luminal- and myoepithelial cells share an origin and in recent years, there has been increasing understanding of how these cell types interact and how they contribute to breast cancer. Accumulating evidence links stem/or progenitor cells in the mammary/breast gland to breast cancer. In that regard, much knowledge has been gained from studies in mice due to specific strains that have allowed for gene knock out/in studies and lineage tracing of cellular fates. However, there is a large histologic difference between the human female breast gland and the mouse mammary gland that necessitates that research needs to be done on human material where primary cultures are important due to their close relation to the tissue of origin. However, due to difficulties of long-term cultures and lack of access to material, human cell lines are of great importance to bridge the gap between studies on mouse mammary gland and human primary breast cells. In this review, we describe D492, a breast epithelial progenitor cell line that can generate both luminal- and myoepithelial cells in culture, and in 3D culture it forms branching ducts similar to TDLUs. We have applied D492 and its daughter cell lines to explore cellular and molecular mechanisms of branching morphogenesis and cellular plasticity including EMT and MET. In addition to discussing the application of D492 in studying normal morphogenesis, we will also discuss how this cell line has been used to study breast cancer progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eirikur Briem
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegi 16, 101, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Saevar Ingthorsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegi 16, 101, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Gunnhildur Asta Traustadottir
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegi 16, 101, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Bylgja Hilmarsdottir
- Department of Tumor Biology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Thorarinn Gudjonsson
- Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegi 16, 101, Reykjavík, Iceland.
- Department of Laboratory Hematology, Landspitali - University Hospital, Reykjavík, Iceland.
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35
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Cell Internalization in Fluidic Culture Conditions Is Improved When Microparticles Are Specifically Targeted to the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2). Pharmaceutics 2019; 11:pharmaceutics11040177. [PMID: 30978948 PMCID: PMC6523092 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics11040177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Revised: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose: To determine if the specific targeting of microparticles improves their internalization by cells under fluidic conditions. Methods: Two isogenic breast epithelial cell lines, one overexpressing the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) oncogene (D492HER2) and highly tumorigenic and the other expressing HER2 at much lower levels and non-tumorigenic (D492), were cultured in the presence of polystyrene microparticles of 1 µm in diameter, biofunctionalized with either a specific anti-HER2 antibody or a non-specific secondary antibody. Mono- and cocultures of both cell lines in static and fluidic conditions were performed, and the cells with internalized microparticles were scored. Results: Globally, the D492 cell line showed a higher endocytic capacity than the D492HER2 cell line. Microparticles that were functionalized with the anti-HER2 antibody were internalized by a higher percentage of cells than microparticles functionalized with the non-specific secondary antibody. Although internalization was reduced in fluidic culture conditions in comparison with static conditions, the increase in the internalization of microparticles biofunctionalized with the anti-HER2 antibody was higher for the cell line overexpressing HER2. Conclusion: The biofunctionalization of microparticles with a specific targeting molecule remarkably increases their internalization by cells in fluidic culture conditions (simulating the blood stream). This result emphasizes the importance of targeting for future in vivo delivery of drugs and bioactive molecules through microparticles.
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36
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Budiarto BR, Pohan PU, Desriani. Nucleic acid amplification-based HER2 molecular detection for breast cancer. JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jons.2018.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
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37
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Wen SW, Lima LG, Lobb RJ, Norris EL, Hastie ML, Krumeich S, Möller A. Breast Cancer-Derived Exosomes Reflect the Cell-of-Origin Phenotype. Proteomics 2019; 19:e1800180. [PMID: 30672117 DOI: 10.1002/pmic.201800180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2018] [Revised: 12/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
A manner in which cells can communicate with each other is via secreted nanoparticles termed exosomes. These vesicles contain lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins, and are said to reflect the cell-of-origin. However, for the exosomal protein content, there is limited evidence in the literature to verify this statement. Here, proteomic assessment combined with pathway-enrichment analysis is used to demonstrate that the protein cargo of exosomes reflects the epithelial/mesenchymal phenotype of secreting breast cancer cells. Given that epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity is known to implicate various stages of cancer progression, the results suggest that breast cancer subtypes with distinct epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes may be distinguished by directly assessing the protein content of exosomes. Additionally, the work is a substantial step toward verifying the statement that cell-derived exosomes reflect the phenotype of the cells-of-origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu Wen Wen
- Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia.,Neuroinflammation Laboratory, Monash University, Monash Medical Centre, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Luize G Lima
- Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia
| | - Richard J Lobb
- Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia
| | - Emma L Norris
- Protein Discovery Centre, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia
| | - Marcus L Hastie
- Protein Discovery Centre, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia
| | - Sophie Krumeich
- Oncology and Cellular Immunology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia
| | - Andreas Möller
- Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia
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38
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Liu M, Qu Y, Teng X, Xing Y, Li D, Li C, Cai L. PADI4‑mediated epithelial‑mesenchymal transition in lung cancer cells. Mol Med Rep 2019; 19:3087-3094. [PMID: 30816464 PMCID: PMC6423585 DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2019.9968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Accepted: 02/14/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Lung cancer is a complex disease involving multiple genetic and phenotypic alterations. As a histone modification enzyme, protein-arginine deiminase type-4 (PADI4) and its downstream signaling have been studied in the progression of a variety of types of human cancer, but data on PADI4-mediated posttranslational modification in lung cancer are lacking. The aim of present study was to evaluate the expression of PADI4 and its associated molecular signaling in lung cancer metastasis. The results of the present study indicated that PADI4 was overexpressed in lung cancer cells, while knockdown of PADI4 could lead to attenuation of the lung cancer cell invasion and migration phenotype, which was further verified by determining the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker proteins. Additionally, it was demonstrated that stable knockdown of PADI4 in A549 lung cancer cells resulted in a striking reduction of the EMT-associated Snail1/mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3/4 transcriptional complex, which was consistent with alterations in migratory and invasive phenotypes of A549 lung cancer cells. Therefore, PADI4-mediated EMT transition is proposed to represent a novel mechanism underlying the epigenetic and phenotypic alterations in lung cancer cells, and the PADI4 associated signaling pathway may be a therapeutic target for treating lung cancer in a clinical setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meiyan Liu
- Department of Internal Medicine, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China
| | - Yang Qu
- Department of Internal Medicine, The Second Hospital of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150010, P.R. China
| | - Xue Teng
- Department of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China
| | - Ying Xing
- Department of Internal Medicine, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China
| | - Dandan Li
- Department of Internal Medicine, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China
| | - Chunhong Li
- Department of Internal Medicine, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China
| | - Li Cai
- Department of Internal Medicine, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China
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Taparra K, Wang H, Malek R, Lafargue A, Barbhuiya MA, Wang X, Simons BW, Ballew M, Nugent K, Groves J, Williams RD, Shiraishi T, Verdone J, Yildirir G, Henry R, Zhang B, Wong J, Wang KKH, Nelkin BD, Pienta KJ, Felsher D, Zachara NE, Tran PT. O-GlcNAcylation is required for mutant KRAS-induced lung tumorigenesis. J Clin Invest 2018; 128:4924-4937. [PMID: 30130254 DOI: 10.1172/jci94844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Accepted: 08/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutant KRAS drives glycolytic flux in lung cancer, potentially impacting aberrant protein glycosylation. Recent evidence suggests aberrant KRAS drives flux of glucose into the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP). HBP is required for various glycosylation processes, such as protein N- or O-glycosylation and glycolipid synthesis. However, its function during tumorigenesis is poorly understood. One contributor and proposed target of KRAS-driven cancers is a developmentally conserved epithelial plasticity program called epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Here we showed in novel autochthonous mouse models that EMT accelerated KrasG12D lung tumorigenesis by upregulating expression of key enzymes of the HBP pathway. We demonstrated that HBP was required for suppressing KrasG12D-induced senescence, and targeting HBP significantly delayed KrasG12D lung tumorigenesis. To explore the mechanism, we investigated protein glycosylation downstream of HBP and found elevated levels of O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAcylation) posttranslational modification on intracellular proteins. O-GlcNAcylation suppressed KrasG12D oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) and accelerated lung tumorigenesis. Conversely, loss of O-GlcNAcylation delayed lung tumorigenesis. O-GlcNAcylation of proteins SNAI1 and c-MYC correlated with the EMT-HBP axis and accelerated lung tumorigenesis. Our results demonstrated that O-GlcNAcylation was sufficient and required to accelerate KrasG12D lung tumorigenesis in vivo, which was reinforced by epithelial plasticity programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kekoa Taparra
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.,Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine
| | - Hailun Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Reem Malek
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Audrey Lafargue
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Mustafa A Barbhuiya
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Xing Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Brian W Simons
- Department of Urology, James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute
| | - Matthew Ballew
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Katriana Nugent
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | | | - Russell D Williams
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Takumi Shiraishi
- Department of Urology, James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute
| | - James Verdone
- Department of Urology, James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute
| | | | | | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - John Wong
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Ken Kang-Hsin Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Barry D Nelkin
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Kenneth J Pienta
- Department of Biological Chemistry, and.,Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Dean Felsher
- Division of Medical Oncology, Departments of Medicine and Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Natasha E Zachara
- Department of Biological Chemistry, and.,Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Phuoc T Tran
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.,Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine.,Department of Urology, James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute.,Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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40
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Zhang T, Li J, He Y, Yang F, Hao Y, Jin W, Wu J, Sun Z, Li Y, Chen Y, Yi Z, Liu M. A small molecule targeting myoferlin exerts promising anti-tumor effects on breast cancer. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3726. [PMID: 30213946 PMCID: PMC6137146 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06179-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2018] [Accepted: 08/14/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer is one of the most lethal cancers in women when it reaches the metastatic stage. Here, we screen a library of small molecules for inhibitors of breast cancer cell invasion, and use structure/activity relationship studies to develop a series of small molecules with improved activity. We find WJ460 as one of the lead compounds exerting anti-metastatic activity in the nanomolar range in breast cancer cells. Proteomic and biochemical studies identify myoferlin (MYOF) as the direct target of WJ460. In parallel, loss of MYOF or pharmacological inhibition of MYOF by WJ460 reduces breast cancer extravasation into the lung parenchyma in an experimental metastasis mouse model, which reveals an essential role of MYOF in breast cancer progression. Our findings suggest that MYOF can be explored as a molecular target in breast cancer metastasis and that targeting MYOF by WJ460 may be a promising therapeutic strategy in MYOF-driven cancers. Improved therapeutics are needed for treating breast cancer. Here they show the druggability of myoferlin with a small molecule inhibitor in breast cancer and demonstrate its anti-breast cancer effects in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Zhang
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China.,Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 200080, Shanghai, China
| | - Jingjie Li
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China.,The Institute of Cell Metabolism and Disease, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 200080, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuan He
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China
| | - Feifei Yang
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China
| | - Yun Hao
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China
| | - Wangrui Jin
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Wu
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhenliang Sun
- Shanghai University of Medicine & Health Sciences Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai, 201499, China
| | - Yunqi Li
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China
| | - Yihua Chen
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China.
| | - Zhengfang Yi
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China. .,Shanghai University of Medicine & Health Sciences Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai, 201499, China.
| | - Mingyao Liu
- East China Normal University and Shanghai Fengxian District Central Hospital Joint Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, 200241, Shanghai, China. .,Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, 77030, Houston, USA.
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Kriegmair MC, Wirtz RM, Worst TS, Breyer J, Ritter M, Keck B, Boehmer C, Otto W, Eckstein M, Weis CA, Hartmann A, Bolenz C, Erben P. Prognostic Value of Molecular Breast Cancer Subtypes based on Her2, ESR1, PGR and Ki67 mRNA-Expression in Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer. Transl Oncol 2018; 11:467-476. [PMID: 29477637 PMCID: PMC5834659 DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2018.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2017] [Revised: 01/30/2018] [Accepted: 02/01/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Gene expression analyses have identified similarities between bladder and breast cancer, where clinical risk stratification is based on Her2, ESR1, PGR and Ki67 expression. The aim of the study was to assess the respective marker gene expression in patients treated with radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and to evaluate the applicability of breast cancer subtypes for MIBC risk stratification. MATERIALS & METHODS: 102 patients treated with radical cystectomy for MIBC were assessed. Using routine FFPE tissue and an IVD validated kit, mRNA expression was measured by single step RT-qPCR. Partition test were employed to define cut-off values for high or low marker gene expression. Association of expression with outcome was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate cox regression analysis. Finally, we performed validation of our results in the MD-Anderson cohort (n = 57). RESULTS: Cancer specific survival (CSS) was impaired in patients with high gene expression of Her2 (P = 0.0009) and ESR1 (P = 0.04). In the multivariate regression model Her2 expression remained significant for the prediction of CSS (HR = 2.11, CI 1.11-4.21, P = 0.024). Furthermore, molecular stratification by breast cancer subgroups was significant (P = 0.023) for CSS prediction. Especially the differentiation between Her2-positive and Luminal A (HR = 4.41, CI 1.53-18.71, P = 0.004) and Luminal B (HR = 1.96, CI 0.99-4.08, P = 0.053) respectively was an independent prognostic parameter for CSS. External validation resulted in comparable risk stratification with differences in fractional subgroups distribution. CONCLUSION: Gene expression of Her2, ESR1, PGR, Ki67 and corresponding breast cancer subtypes allow a risk-stratification in MIBC, whereby Her2 overexpressing tumors reveal a particularly poor prognosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- M C Kriegmair
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68167 Mannheim, Germany.
| | - R M Wirtz
- Stratifyer Molecular Pathology, Werthmannstraße 1, 50935, Köln, Germany
| | - T S Worst
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68167 Mannheim, Germany
| | - J Breyer
- Department of Urology, University of Regensburg, Landshuter Str. 65, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - M Ritter
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68167 Mannheim, Germany
| | - B Keck
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Erlangen, Krankenhausstraße 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - C Boehmer
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68167 Mannheim, Germany
| | - W Otto
- Department of Urology, University of Regensburg, Landshuter Str. 65, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - M Eckstein
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Erlangen, Krankenhausstraße 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - C A Weis
- Institute of Pathology, University Medical Centre Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68167 Mannheim, Germany
| | - A Hartmann
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Erlangen, Krankenhausstraße 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - C Bolenz
- Department of Urology, University of Ulm, Prittwitzstraße 43, 89075 Ulm, Germany
| | - P Erben
- Department of Urology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68167 Mannheim, Germany
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HDAC1 promoted migration and invasion binding with TCF12 by promoting EMT progress in gallbladder cancer. Oncotarget 2017; 7:32754-64. [PMID: 27092878 PMCID: PMC5078048 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.8740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2015] [Accepted: 03/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The identification of prognostic markers for gallbladder cancer is needed for clinical practice. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) play an important role in tumor development and progression by modifying histone and non-histone proteins. However, the expression of HDAC1 in patients with gallbladder cancer is still unknown. Here, we reported that HDAC1 expression was elevated in cancerous tissue and correlated with lymph node metastasis and poorer overall survival in patients with GBC. Knockdown of HDAC1 using lentivirus delivery of HDAC1-specific shRNA abrogated the migration and invasion of GBC cells in vitro. TCF-12, as the HDAC1 binding protein, has also correlates with poor prognosis in GBC patients. And there is a positive correlation between HDAC1 and TCF-12 which leading the high invasion and migration ability of GBC cells. Taken together, our data suggested that HDAC1 and TCF-12 are a potential prognostic maker and may be a molecular target for inhibiting invasion and metastasis in GBC.
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43
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Laedrach C, Salhia B, Cihoric N, Zlobec I, Tapia C. Immunophenotypic profile of tumor buds in breast cancer. Pathol Res Pract 2017; 214:25-29. [PMID: 29254793 PMCID: PMC7474545 DOI: 10.1016/j.prp.2017.11.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2017] [Revised: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/28/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Tumor buds are associated with lympho-vascular invasion and lymph node metastases leading to the assumption that they are involved in the early metastatic process. Hence, it would be important to know if tumor buds can be targeted with the most widely used targeted therapies in breast cancer (BC) and if changes in hormone and Her2 status occur. The aim of this study was to answer these questions by determining whether hormone receptor (HR) and Her2 status are expressed in the tumor buds of a large cohort of BCs. DESIGN We constructed a tumor bud next-generation tissue microarray (ngTMA) consisting of n = 199 BCs of non-special type. Generally, two 1 mm punches were taken from the tumor bud areas in the periphery (PTB) and within the tumor center (ITB). HR and Her2 status was assessed using immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization, respectively. HR status was positive if ≥1% of tumor bud cells were positive. Her2 status was considered positive if bud cells showed strong complete membranous Her2 over-expression or Her2 amplification. RESULTS Most tumor buds were positive for estrogen (ER) (PTB: 86%; ITB: 88.3) and progesterone receptor (PgR) (PTB: 72%; ITB: 72.8%) and Her2 was positive in: PTB 11.5% and ITB 11%. A difference between the main tumor mass and tumor buds (PTB and ITB) was seen for PgR in 3.5% of cases (n = 7). No differences were seen for ER and Her2 between tumor buds and main tumor mass. CONCLUSION Most tumor buds (96.5%) share the same HR and Her2 expression profile of the main tumor mass, implying that tumor buds relay on the same pathways as the main tumor mass and might be equally responsive to targeted therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Laedrach
- Intstitute of Pathology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - B Salhia
- Department of Translational Genomics, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - N Cihoric
- Department of Radio-Oncology, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland; Breast Center, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland
| | - I Zlobec
- Intstitute of Pathology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - C Tapia
- Intstitute of Pathology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Breast Center, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland; Department of Molecular Pathology, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
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Garrido P, Shalaby A, Walsh EM, Keane N, Webber M, Keane MM, Sullivan FJ, Kerin MJ, Callagy G, Ryan AE, Glynn SA. Impact of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression on triple negative breast cancer outcome and activation of EGFR and ERK signaling pathways. Oncotarget 2017; 8:80568-80588. [PMID: 29113326 PMCID: PMC5655221 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.19631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2017] [Accepted: 07/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Inflammation is implicated in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) progression. TNBC carries a worse prognosis than other breast cancer subtypes, and with the clinical and molecular heterogeneity of TNBC, there is a lack of effective therapeutic targets available. Identification of molecular targets for TNBC subtypes is crucial towards personalized patient stratification. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been shown to induce p53 mutation accumulation, basal-like gene signature enrichment and transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) via s-nitrosylation. Herein we report that iNOS is associated with disease recurrence, distant metastasis and decreased breast cancer specific survival in 209 cases of TNBC. Employing TNBC cell lines representing normal basal breast, and basal-like 1 and basal-like 2 tumors, we demonstrate that nitric oxide (NO) induces EGFR-dependent ERK phosphorylation in basal-like TNBC cell lines. Moreover NO mediated cell migration and cell invasion was found to be dependent on EGFR and ERK activation particularly in basal-like 2 TBNC cells. This occurred in conjunction with NF-κB activation and increased secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-8, IL-1β and TNF-α. This provides substantial evidence for EGFR as a therapeutic target to be taken into consideration in the treatment of a specific subset of basal-like TNBC overexpressing iNOS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Garrido
- Discipline of Pathology, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland.,Apoptosis Research Centre, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Aliaa Shalaby
- Discipline of Pathology, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Elaine M Walsh
- Discipline of Pathology, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Nessa Keane
- Discipline of Pathology, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Mark Webber
- Discipline of Pathology, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Maccon M Keane
- Medical Oncology, Galway University Hospital, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Francis J Sullivan
- Prostate Cancer Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Michael J Kerin
- Discipline of Surgery, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Grace Callagy
- Discipline of Pathology, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Aideen E Ryan
- Discipline of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland.,Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), Biomedical Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
| | - Sharon A Glynn
- Discipline of Pathology, Lambe Institute for Translational Research, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland.,Prostate Cancer Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland.,Apoptosis Research Centre, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland
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Ebbing EA, Steins A, Fessler E, Stathi P, Lesterhuis WJ, Krishnadath KK, Vermeulen L, Medema JP, Bijlsma MF, van Laarhoven HWM. Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Cells and Xenograft Tumors Exposed to Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinase 2 and 3 Inhibitors Activate Transforming Growth Factor Beta Signaling, Which Induces Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition. Gastroenterology 2017; 153:63-76.e14. [PMID: 28286209 DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2017.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2016] [Revised: 02/21/2017] [Accepted: 03/06/2017] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Drugs that inhibit the erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2 or HER2) are the standard treatment of patients with different types of cancer, including HER2-overexpressing gastroesophageal tumors. Unfortunately, cancer cells become resistant to these drugs, so overall these drugs provide little benefit to patients with these tumors. We investigated mechanisms that mediate resistance of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) cells and patient-derived xenograft tumors to ERBB inhibitors. METHODS We cultured primary tumor cells, isolated from EAC patient samples, and OE19 and OE33 EAC cell lines with trastuzumab (an inhibitor of HER2), with or without pertuzumab (which inhibits dimerization of HER2 with HER3) or a specific antibody against HER3 (anti-HER3). HER2 was knocked down by expression of small hairpin RNAs. In addition, cells were incubated with NRG1-β, a mediator of HER2-HER3 signaling, or A83-01, an inhibitor of transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) signaling. Cells were analyzed for markers of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) using flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. We performed limiting dilution, transwell, and cell viability assays to study the functional effects of HER2 and HER3 inhibition and reactivation. We analyzed publicly available EAC gene expression datasets to correlate expression of ERBB genes with genes encoding epithelial and mesenchymal proteins. NOD.Cg-PrkdcscidIl2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ (NSG) mice were given subcutaneous injections of AMC-EAC-007B cells and also given injections of single or combined inhibitors; growth of these patient-derived xenograft tumors was quantified. RESULTS EAC cells incubated with trastuzumab decreased expression of epithelial markers (CD24, CD29, and CDH1) and increased expression of mesenchymal markers (CXCR4, VIM, ZEB1, SNAI2, and CDH2), compared with cells not exposed to trastuzumab, indicating induction of EMT. Addition of NRG1-β to these cells restored their epithelial phenotype. Incubation of EAC cells with trastuzumab and pertuzumab accelerated the expression of EMT markers, compared with cells incubated with trastuzumab alone. EAC cells cultured for 2 months with a combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab became resistant to chemotherapeutic agents (5-fluoruracil, carboplatin, cisplatin, eribulin, and paclitaxel), based on their continued viability, which was accompanied with an enhanced migratory capacity in transwell assays and clonogenicity in limiting dilution analyses. In comparisons of EAC gene expression patterns, we associated high expression of ERBB3 with an epithelial gene expression signature; expression of TGFβ correlated with expression of EMT-related genes, and we found an inverse correlation between expression of TGFB1 and ERBB3. EAC cells incubated with ERBB inhibitors began to secrete ligands for the TGFβ receptor and underwent EMT. Incubation of EAC cells with trastuzumab, followed by 10 days of incubation with the TGFβ receptor inhibitor in the presence of trastuzumab, caused cells to regain an epithelial phenotype. EAC patient-derived xenograft tumors grew more slowly in mice given the combination of trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and the TGFβ inhibitor than in mice given single agents or a combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab. Tumors exposed to trastuzumab and pertuzumab expressed EMT markers and were poorly differentiated, whereas tumors exposed to the combination of trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and the TGFβ inhibitor expressed epithelial markers and were more differentiated. CONCLUSIONS EAC cells become resistant to trastuzumab and pertuzumab by activating TGFβ signaling, which induces EMT. Agents that block TGFβ signaling can increase the anti-tumor efficacies of trastuzumab and pertuzumab.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva A Ebbing
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Laboratory for Experimental Oncology and Radiobiology, Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Department of Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Anne Steins
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Laboratory for Experimental Oncology and Radiobiology, Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Department of Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Evelyn Fessler
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Laboratory for Experimental Oncology and Radiobiology, Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Phylicia Stathi
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Laboratory for Experimental Oncology and Radiobiology, Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Department of Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Kausilia K Krishnadath
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Laboratory for Experimental Oncology and Radiobiology, Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Louis Vermeulen
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Laboratory for Experimental Oncology and Radiobiology, Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jan Paul Medema
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Laboratory for Experimental Oncology and Radiobiology, Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Cancer Genomics Center, Center for Molecular Medicine, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Maarten F Bijlsma
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Laboratory for Experimental Oncology and Radiobiology, Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Hanneke W M van Laarhoven
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Department of Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Yang F, Zhao Z, Zhao N. Clinical implications of tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 in breast cancer. Oncol Lett 2017; 14:2393-2398. [PMID: 28789455 DOI: 10.3892/ol.2017.6410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2016] [Accepted: 03/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family. Its high expression and oncogenic roles have been reported in several types of tumors in previous years. However, the clinical implication of TNFR2 in breast cancer (BC) tissue (i.e., not soluble TNFR2 in blood or genetic variation of TNFR2) has not been reported. In the present study, TNFR2 expression was detected in BC tissue using immunohistochemistry and, to the best of our knowledge, it was confirmed for the first time that TNFR2 was positively associated with increased tumor size, advanced clinical stage and higher pathological grade. Survival analysis revealed that TNFR2 was positively associated with shorter overall survival (OS) time and disease-free survival (DFS) time. In addition, univariate regression analysis demonstrated that TNFR2 expression (P=0.045), tumor size (P<0.0001), clinical stage (P<0.0001), pathological grade (P=0.002), estrogen and progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) triple-status (P=0.001) all had a significant impact on the OS rate of patients with BC. TNFR2 expression (P=0.017), age (P=0.011), menopausal status (P<0.0001), tumor size (P=0.016), clinical stage (P=0.005), pathological grade (P=0.002) and estrogen/progesterone receptor and HER2 triple-status (P=0.008) were all shown to significantly impact the DFS rate of patients with BC. Multivariate regression analysis showed that only clinical stage (P=0.024), estrogen and progesterone receptor status and HER2 status (P=0.009) had a significant impact on the OS rate of patients with BC, while TNFR2 expression (P=0.043) and menopausal status (P=0.033) were shown to significantly impact the DFS rate of patients with BC. These data indicated that TNFR2 may perform important roles in the progression and prognosis of BC. This enriches previous understanding about TNFR2 in BC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fuqian Yang
- Department of Breast Surgery, Weifang People's Hospital, Weifang, Shandong 261041, P.R. China
| | - Zhonghua Zhao
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical College, Binzhou, Shandong 256600, P.R. China
| | - Nana Zhao
- Department of Medical Examination, Fangzi People's Hospital, Weifang, Shandong 261000, P.R. China
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47
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DE JONGE N. Membrane protein stoichiometry studied in intact mammalian cells using liquid-phase electron microscopy. J Microsc 2017; 269:134-142. [DOI: 10.1111/jmi.12570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Revised: 03/15/2017] [Accepted: 03/25/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- N. DE JONGE
- Leibniz Institute for New Materials; Saarbrücken Germany
- Department of Physics; University of Saarland; Saarbrücken Germany
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48
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Mooney SM, Talebian V, Jolly MK, Jia D, Gromala M, Levine H, McConkey BJ. The GRHL2/ZEB Feedback Loop-A Key Axis in the Regulation of EMT in Breast Cancer. J Cell Biochem 2017; 118:2559-2570. [PMID: 28266048 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.25974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2017] [Accepted: 03/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
More than 90% of cancer-related deaths are caused by metastasis. Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) causes tumor cell dissemination while the reverse process, Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition (MET) allows cancer cells to grow and establish a potentially deadly metastatic lesion. Recent evidence indicates that in addition to E and M, cells can adopt a stable hybrid Epithelial/Mesenchymal (E/M) state where they can move collectively leading to clusters of Circulating Tumor Cells-the "bad actors" of metastasis. EMT is postulated to occur in all four major histological breast cancer subtypes. Here, we identify a set of genes strongly correlated with CDH1 in 877 cancer cell lines, and differentially expressed genes in cell lines overexpressing ZEB1, SNAIL, and TWIST. GRHL2 and ESRP1 appear in both these sets and also correlate with CDH1 at the protein level in 40 breast cancer specimens. Next, we find that GRHL2 and CD24 expression coincide with an epithelial character in human mammary epithelial cells. Further, we show that high GRHL2 expression is highly correlated with worse relapse-free survival in all four subtypes of breast cancer. Finally, we integrate CD24, GRHL2, and ESRP1 into a mathematical model of EMT regulation to validate the role of these players in EMT. Our data analysis and modeling results highlight the relationships among multiple crucial EMT/MET drivers including ZEB1, GRHL2, CD24, and ESRP1, particularly in basal-like breast cancers, which are most similar to triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and are considered the most dangerous subtype. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 2559-2570, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven M Mooney
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo N2L3G1, ON, Canada
| | - Vida Talebian
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo N2L3G1, ON, Canada
| | - Mohit Kumar Jolly
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston 77005, Texas.,Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston 77005, Texas
| | - Dongya Jia
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston 77005, Texas.,Program in Systems/Synthetic/Physical Biology, Rice University, Houston 77005, Texas
| | - Monica Gromala
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo N2L3G1, ON, Canada
| | - Herbert Levine
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston 77005, Texas.,Program in Systems/Synthetic/Physical Biology, Rice University, Houston 77005, Texas.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston 77005, Texas
| | - Brendan J McConkey
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo N2L3G1, ON, Canada
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HER2 in Breast Cancer Stemness: A Negative Feedback Loop towards Trastuzumab Resistance. Cancers (Basel) 2017; 9:cancers9050040. [PMID: 28445439 PMCID: PMC5447950 DOI: 10.3390/cancers9050040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2017] [Revised: 04/10/2017] [Accepted: 04/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
HER2 receptor tyrosine kinase that is overexpressed in approximately 20% of all breast cancers (BCs) is a poor prognosis factor and a precious target for BC therapy. Trastuzumab is approved by FDA to specifically target HER2 for treating HER2+ BC. However, about 60% of patients with HER2+ breast tumor develop de novo resistance to trastuzumab, partially due to the loss of expression of HER2 extracellular domain on their tumor cells. This is due to shedding/cleavage of HER2 by metalloproteinases (ADAMs and MMPs). HER2 shedding results in the accumulation of intracellular carboxyl-terminal HER2 (p95HER2), which is a common phenomenon in trastuzumab-resistant tumors and is suggested as a predictive marker for trastuzumab resistance. Up-regulation of the metalloproteinases is a poor prognosis factor and is commonly seen in mesenchymal-like cancer stem cells that are risen during epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) of tumor cells. HER2 cleavage during EMT can explain why secondary metastatic tumors with high percentage of mesenchymal-like cancer stem cells are mostly resistant to trastuzumab but still sensitive to lapatinib. Importantly, many studies report HER2 interaction with oncogenic/stemness signaling pathways including TGF-β/Smad, Wnt/β-catenin, Notch, JAK/STAT and Hedgehog. HER2 overexpression promotes EMT and the emergence of cancer stem cell properties in BC. Increased expression and activation of metalloproteinases during EMT leads to proteolytic cleavage and shedding of HER2 receptor, which downregulates HER2 extracellular domain and eventually increases trastuzumab resistance. Here, we review the hypothesis that a negative feedback loop between HER2 and stemness signaling drives resistance of BC to trastuzumab.
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50
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Xu J, Zhang X, Wang H, Ge S, Gao T, Song L, Wang X, Li H, Qin Y, Zhang Z. HCRP1 downregulation promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell migration and invasion through the induction of EGFR activation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Biomed Pharmacother 2017; 88:421-429. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2017.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2016] [Accepted: 01/02/2017] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
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