Urotensin-II receptor is over-expressed in colon cancer cell lines and in colon carcinoma in humans

Targeted Nanoparticles: the Smart Way for the Treatment of Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a widespread cancer that starts in the digestive tract. It is the third most common cause of cancer deaths around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates an expected death toll of over 1 million cases annually. The limited therapeutic options as well as the drawbacks of the existing therapies necessitate the development of non-classic treatment approaches. Nanotechnology has led the evolution of valuable drug delivery systems thanks to their ability to control drug release and precisely target a wide variety of cancers. This has also been extended to the treatment of CRC. Herein, we shed light on the pertinent research that has been performed on the potential applications of nanoparticles in the treatment of CRC. The various types of nanoparticles in addition to their properties, applications, targeting approaches, merits, and demerits are discussed. Furthermore, innovative therapies for CRC, including gene therapies and immunotherapies, are also highlighted. Eventually, the research gaps, the clinical potential of such delivery systems, and a future outlook on their development are inspired.

The urotensin-II receptor: A marker for staging and steroid outcome prediction in ulcerative colitis

BACKGROUND

Urotensin-II receptor- (UTR) related pathway exerts a key-role in promoting inflammation. The aim was to assess the relationship between UTR expression and clinical, endoscopic and biochemical severity of ulcerative colitis (UC), exploring its predictivity of intravenous (iv) steroid administration therapeutic outcome.

METHODS

One-hundred patients with first diagnosis of UC and 44 healthy subjects were enrolled. UTR expression was assessed by qPCR, Western Blot (WB) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Clinical, endoscopic and histological activity of UC were evaluated by using Truelove and Witts (T&W) severity index, Mayo Endoscopic Score (MES), and Truelove and Richards Index (TRI). The partial and full Mayo scores (PMS and FMS) were assessed to stage the disease.

RESULTS

The UTR expression, resulted higher in the lesioned mucosa of UC patients in comparison to healthy subjects (p < .0001 all). Direct relationship between UTR (mRNA and protein) expression and disease severity assessment (T&W, PMS, MES and TRI) was highlighted (p < .0001 all). UTR expression resulted also higher in the 72 patients requiring iv steroids administration compared to those who underwent alternative medications, (p < .0001). The 32 steroid-non-responders showed an increased UTR expression (WB, IHC and qPCR from lesioned mucosa), compared to 40 steroid-responders (p: .0002, .0001, p < .0001 respectively). The predictive role of UTR expression (p < .05) on the negative iv steroids administration therapeutic outcome was highlighted and ROC curves identified the thresholds expressing the better predictive performance.

CONCLUSIONS

UTR represents a promising inflammatory marker related to clinical, endoscopic, and histological disease activity as well as a predictive marker of steroid administration therapeutic outcome in the UC context.

Targeting the Urotensin II/UT G Protein-Coupled Receptor to Counteract Angiogenesis and Mesenchymal Hypoxia/Necrosis in Glioblastoma

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are the most common primary brain tumors characterized by strong invasiveness and angiogenesis. GBM cells and microenvironment secrete angiogenic factors and also express chemoattractant G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to their advantage. We investigated the role of the vasoactive peptide urotensin II (UII) and its receptor UT on GBM angiogenesis and tested potential ligand/therapeutic options based on this system. On glioma patient samples, the expression of UII and UT increased with the grade with marked expression in the vascular and peri-necrotic mesenchymal hypoxic areas being correlated with vascular density. In vitro human UII stimulated human endothelial HUV-EC-C and hCMEC/D3 cell motility and tubulogenesis. In mouse-transplanted Matrigel sponges, mouse (mUII) and human UII markedly stimulated invasion by macrophages, endothelial, and smooth muscle cells. In U87 GBM xenografts expressing UII and UT in the glial and vascular compartments, UII accelerated tumor development, favored hypoxia and necrosis associated with increased proliferation (Ki67), and induced metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9 expression in Nude mice. UII also promoted a “tortuous” vascular collagen-IV expressing network and integrin expression mainly in the vascular compartment. GBM angiogenesis and integrin αvβ3 were confirmed by in vivo^99mTc-RGD tracer imaging and tumoral capture in the non-necrotic area of U87 xenografts in Nude mice. Peptide analogs of UII and UT antagonist were also tested as potential tumor repressor. Urotensin II-related peptide URP inhibited angiogenesis in vitro and failed to attract vascular and inflammatory components in Matrigel in vivo. Interestingly, the UT antagonist/biased ligand urantide and the non-peptide UT antagonist palosuran prevented UII-induced tubulogenesis in vitro and significantly delayed tumor growth in vivo. Urantide drastically prevented endogenous and UII-induced GBM angiogenesis, MMP, and integrin activations, associated with GBM tumoral growth. These findings show that UII induces GBM aggressiveness with necrosis and angiogenesis through integrin activation, a mesenchymal behavior that can be targeted by UT biased ligands/antagonists.

The Effect of Local Renin Angiotensin System in the Common Types of Cancer

The Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) is a hormonal system that is responsible for blood pressure hemostasis and electrolyte balance. It is implicated in cancer hallmarks because it is expressed locally in almost all of the body's tissues. In this review, current knowledge on the effect of local RAS in the common types of cancer such as breast, lung, liver, prostate and skin cancer is summarised. The mechanisms by which RAS components could increase or decrease cancer activity are also discussed. In addition to the former, this review explores how the administration of AT1R blockers and ACE inhibitors drugs intervene with cancer therapy and contribute to the outcomes of cancer.

Development of Novel 111-In-Labelled DOTA Urotensin II Analogues for Targeting the UT Receptor Overexpressed in Solid Tumours

Overexpression of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in tumours is widely used to develop GPCR-targeting radioligands for solid tumour imaging in the context of diagnosis and even treatment. The human vasoactive neuropeptide urotensin II (hUII), which shares structural analogies with somatostatin, interacts with a single high affinity GPCR named UT. High expression of UT has been reported in several types of human solid tumours from lung, gut, prostate, or breast, suggesting that UT is a valuable novel target to design radiolabelled hUII analogues for cancer diagnosis. In this study, two original urotensinergic analogues were first conjugated to a DOTA chelator via an aminohexanoic acid (Ahx) hydrocarbon linker and then -hUII and DOTA-urantide, complexed to the radioactive metal indium isotope to successfully lead to radiolabelled DOTA-Ahx-hUII and DOTA-Ahx-urantide. The ¹¹¹In-DOTA-hUII in human plasma revealed that only 30% of the radioligand was degraded after a 3-h period. DOTA-hUII and DOTA-urantide exhibited similar binding affinities as native peptides and relayed calcium mobilization in HEK293 cells expressing recombinant human UT. DOTA-hUII, not DOTA-urantide, was able to promote UT internalization in UT-expressing HEK293 cells, thus indicating that radiolabelled ¹¹¹In-DOTA-hUII would allow sufficient retention of radioactivity within tumour cells or radiolabelled DOTA-urantide may lead to a persistent binding on UT at the plasma membrane. The potential of these radioligands as candidates to target UT was investigated in adenocarcinoma. We showed that hUII stimulated the migration and proliferation of both human lung A549 and colorectal DLD-1 adenocarcinoma cell lines endogenously expressing UT. In vivo intravenous injection of ¹¹¹In-DOTA-hUII in C57BL/6 mice revealed modest organ signals, with important retention in kidney. ¹¹¹In-DOTA-hUII or ¹¹¹In-DOTA-urantide were also injected in nude mice bearing heterotopic xenografts of lung A549 cells or colorectal DLD-1 cells both expressing UT. The observed significant renal uptake and low tumour/muscle ratio (around 2.5) suggest fast tracer clearance from the organism. Together, DOTA-hUII and DOTA-urantide were successfully radiolabelled with ¹¹¹Indium, the first one functioning as a UT agonist and the second one as a UT-biased ligand/antagonist. To allow tumour-specific targeting and prolong body distribution in preclinical models bearing some solid tumours, these radiolabelled urotensinergic analogues should be optimized for being used as potential molecular tools for diagnosis imaging or even treatment tools.

Urotensin-II-Targeted Liposomes as a New Drug Delivery System towards Prostate and Colon Cancer Cells

Urotensin-II (UT-II) and its receptor (UTR) are involved in the occurrence of different epithelial cancers. In particular, UTR was found overexpressed on colon, bladder, and prostate cancer cells. The conjugation of ligands, able to specifically bind receptors that are overexpressed on cancer cells, to liposome surface represents an efficient active targeting strategy to enhance selectivity and efficiency of drug delivery systems. The aim of this study was to develop liposomes conjugated with UT-II (LipoUT) for efficient targeting of cancer cells that overexpress UTR. The liposomes had a mean diameter between 150 nm and 160 nm with a narrow size distribution (PI ≤ 0.1) and a doxo encapsulation efficiency of 96%. Moreover, the conjugation of UT-II to liposomes weakly reduced the zeta potential. We evaluated UTR expression on prostate (DU145, PC3, and LNCaP) and colon (WIDR and LoVo) cancer cells by FACS and western blotting analysis. UTR protein was expressed in all the tested cell lines; the level of expression was higher in WIDR, PC3, and LNCaP cells compared with LoVo and DU145. MTT cell viability assay showed that LipoUT-doxo was more active than Lipo-doxo on the growth inhibition of cells that overexpressed UTR (PC3, LNCaP, and WIDR) while in LoVo and DU145 cell lines, the activity was similar to or lower than that one of Lipo-doxo, respectively. Moreover, we found that cell uptake of Bodipy-labeled liposomes in PC3 and DU145 was higher for LipoUT than the not-armed counterparts but at higher extent in UTR overexpressing PC3 cells (about 2-fold higher), as evaluated by both confocal and FACS. In conclusion, the encapsulation of doxo in UT-II-targeted liposomes potentiated its delivery in UTR-overexpressing cells and could represent a new tool for the targeting of prostate and colon cancer.

Urotensin II receptor expression in patients with ulcerative colitis: a pilot study

BACKGROUND

Urotensin II (U-II) is a vasoactive peptide that interacts with a specific receptor named UTR. Recently, our group has demonstrated increased UTR expression in both human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines and adenomatous polyps, as well as in colon carcinoma samples if compared to healthy colon samples of the same patients. We also showed that an UTR agonist induced an increase in colon adenocarcinoma cell growth in vitro, whereas the UTR block with a specific antagonist caused an inhibition of their growth and an inhibition of about 50% of both motility and cell invasion. Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) associated with an increased baseline risk for colon cancer compared with the general population, and this risk is mostly attributed to chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation. This risk increases along with the duration of the disease, as demonstrated by many studies. There are no UTR expression data related to UC, and we therefore evaluated UTR expression in ill colon biopsies and in healthy colon ones of patients with UC and colon biopsies of healthy patients.

METHODS

We enrolled, prior to informed consent, 11 patients (5 males and 6 females, age range 29-75 years, median age 52 years) with first UC diagnosis compared to 11 healthy controls (6 males and 5 females, age range 30-78 years, median age 55 years). We have therefore sampled inflammatory and healthy tissue in UC patients. We have also taken colic tissue samples in healthy subjects. Evaluation of receptor expression was performed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western Blot analysis. The ANOVA Test (P<0.05) was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

We found: 1) increased expression of UTR in 11/11 UC patients with ill mucosa biopsies compared to healthy controls in RT-PCR and in Western Blot analysis; 2) increased UTR expression in 11/11 UC patients with ill colon biopsies compared to the results obtained from healthy colon biopsies of the same patients both in RT-PCR and in Western Blot analysis; 3) increased UTR expression in 9/11 UC patients healthy colon biopsy specimens compared to healthy controls.

CONCLUSIONS

UTR could be considered as an inflammatory UC disease marker because its expression is greater in the mucosa of ill colon than in the healthy colon of the same patients and compared to healthy controls.

Is elevated urotensin II level a predictor for increased cardiovascular risk in subjects with acromegaly?

PURPOSE

Acromegaly is a rare disorder existed in the result of overproduction of growth hormone (GH). The disorder is associated with increased cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic abnormalities. Urotensin II (UII), a secreted vasoactive peptide hormone, belonging somatostatin superfamily, plays an essential role in atherosclerosis and glucose metabolism. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether circulating UII levels are altered in subjects with acromegaly, and to describe the relationship between UII and hormonal or cardiometabolic parameters.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 41 subjects with active acromegaly, 28 subjects with controlled acromegaly, and 37 age- and BMI-matched controls without acromegaly. Hormonal and metabolic features of the subjects as well as carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) and epicardial fat thickness (EFT) were defined. Circulation of UII levels was determined via ELISA.

RESULTS

Both active and controlled acromegalic subjects showed a significant elevation of circulating levels of UII with respect to controls. There was no remarkable difference in circulating levels of UII between active and controlled acromegalic groups. Both cIMT and EFT were remarkably increased in acromegaly subjects comparing to controls. UII positively correlated with cIMT, EFT, BMI, and HOMA-IR. There was no correlation between UII and GH, insulin-like growth factor-1. According to the results obtained from regression models, UII levels independently predicted cIMT and EFT.

CONCLUSION

Elevated UII levels are associated with severity of cardiovascular risk factors including cIMT and EFT in acromegalic subjects.

Urotensin II receptor as a potential biomarker for the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Urotensin II and the associated urotensin II receptor (UTR) are important in the carcinogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the clinical significance of UTR remains to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to investigate if UTR exhibits the potential to act as a biomarker to predict the prognosis of HCC patients. The effects of UTR on motility and invasion of HCC cells were additionally investigated. UTR expression levels were determined by immunohistochemistry, in 83 HCC patients that previously underwent curative liver resection. The association between UTR levels and clinicopathological data were analyzed. In vitro, the expressions of UTR in QSG-7701, BEL-7402 and MHCC-97H cell lines were determined via western blotting. Small interfering (si)RNA was used to downregulate UTR in BEL-7402 and MHCC-97H cell lines, and the effects of UTR on tumor cell motility were tested by Transwell assay. UTR expression was associated with tumor number, size, histology and tumor node metastasis/Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer HCC stage. UTR expression levels were additionally associated with recurrence-free and overall survival in HCC patients by Kaplan-Meier curve analysis (P<0.0001). In vitro, UTR expression levels were increased in BEL-7402 and MHCC-97H cell lines, compared with QSG-7701 (P<0.05). siRNA-mediated silencing of the UTR gene significantly inhibited cell motility in BEL-7402 and MHCC-97H cells. The results indicated that UTR may be regarded as a novel biomarker to predict outcomes following radical liver resection and as a potential therapeutic target to inhibit invasion and metastasis of HCC.

The effects of urotensin II on migration and invasion are mediated by NADPH oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species through the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway in human hepatoma cells

AIMS

Urotensin II (UII) is a vasoactive neuropeptide involved in migration and invasion in various cell types. However, the effects of UII on human hepatoma cells still remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the role and mechanism of UII on migration and invasion in human hepatoma cells.

METHODS

Migration was measured by wound healing assays and a Transwell^® methodology, and invasion was analyzed using Matrigel^® invasion chambers. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were detected using a 2', 7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate probe, and flow cytometry, and protein expression levels were evaluated by western blotting. Cell proliferation and actin polymerization were examined using cell proliferation reagent WST-1 and F-actin immunohistochemistry staining.

RESULTS

Exposure to UII promoted migration and invasion in hepatoma cells compared with that in cells without UII. UII also increased matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) expression in a time-independent manner. Furthermore, UII markedly enhanced ROS generation and NADPH oxidase subunit expression, and consequently facilitated the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). The UT antagonist urantide or the antioxidant/NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin decreased UII-induced ROS production. JNK phosphorylation, migration, invasion, and MMP9/2 expression were also reversed by pretreatment with apocynin. Urantide and JNK inhibitor SP600125 abrogated migration, invasion, or MMP9/2 expression in response to UII. UII induced actin polymerization and fascin protein expression, and could be reversed by apocynin and SP600125.

CONCLUSIONS

Exogenous UII induced migration and invasion in hepatoma cells that mainly involved NADPH oxidase-derived ROS through JNK activation. UT played an additional role in regulating hepatoma cells migration and invasion. Thus, our data suggested an important effect of UII in hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis.

The G Protein-Coupled Receptor UT of the Neuropeptide Urotensin II Displays Structural and Functional Chemokine Features

The urotensinergic system was previously considered as being linked to numerous physiopathological states, including atherosclerosis, heart failure, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, diabetes, renal disease, as well as brain vascular lesions. Thus, it turns out that the actions of the urotensin II (UII)/G protein-coupled receptor UT system in animal models are currently not predictive enough in regard to their effects in human clinical trials and that UII analogs, established to target UT, were not as beneficial as expected in pathological situations. Thus, many questions remain regarding the overall signaling profiles of UT leading to complex involvement in cardiovascular and inflammatory responses as well as cancer. We address the potential UT chemotactic structural and functional definition under an evolutionary angle, by the existence of a common conserved structural feature among chemokine receptorsopioïdergic receptors and UT, i.e., a specific proline position in the transmembrane domain-2 TM2 (P2.58) likely responsible for a kink helical structure that would play a key role in chemokine functions. Even if the last decade was devoted to the elucidation of the cardiovascular control by the urotensinergic system, we also attempt here to discuss the role of UII on inflammation and migration, likely providing a peptide chemokine status for UII. Indeed, our recent work established that activation of UT by a gradient concentration of UII recruits Gαi/o and Gα13 couplings in a spatiotemporal way, controlling key signaling events leading to chemotaxis. We think that this new vision of the urotensinergic system should help considering UT as a chemotactic therapeutic target in pathological situations involving cell chemoattraction.

Increased expression of urotensin II is associated with poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Urotensin II (UII) and the urotensin II receptor (UT) exhibit mitogenic effects on tumor growth. Our previous study demonstrated that the UII/UT system is upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may enhance the proliferation of human hepatoma cells. However, the clinical significance of UII/UT expression in HCC remains unclear. The present study assessed UII messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in 129 surgical specimens obtained from HCC patients using reverse transcription quantitative-polymerase chain reaction. The association between UII mRNA expression and clinicopathological parameters and overall survival rates was also investigated. The results revealed that UII and UT mRNA expression was significantly increased in HCC tissue compared with adjacent non-cancerous liver tissue (P<0.001). Furthermore, a significant correlation was identified between UII expression and histological differentiation (P<0.01), tumor size (P<0.01) and tumor stage (P=0.026). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that overall survival time was significantly shorter in patients with high UII expression, compared with those with low UII expression (P<0.001). Multivariate analyses indicated that UII expression was an independent predictor of overall survival (odds ratio, 1.12; P<0.001). In addition, UII mRNA was correlated with vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA expression. Therefore, UII expression is an independent biomarker for the prognosis of patients with HCC and thus, the UII/UT system may present a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.

Chemotactic G protein-coupled receptors control cell migration by repressing autophagosome biogenesis

Chemotactic migration is a fundamental behavior of cells and its regulation is particularly relevant in physiological processes such as organogenesis and angiogenesis, as well as in pathological processes such as tumor metastasis. The majority of chemotactic stimuli activate cell surface receptors that belong to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily. Although the autophagy machinery has been shown to play a role in cell migration, its mode of regulation by chemotactic GPCRs remains largely unexplored. We found that ligand-induced activation of 2 chemotactic GPCRs, the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and the urotensin 2 receptor UTS2R, triggers a marked reduction in the biogenesis of autophagosomes, in both HEK-293 and U87 glioblastoma cells. Chemotactic GPCRs exert their anti-autophagic effects through the activation of CAPNs, which prevent the formation of pre-autophagosomal vesicles from the plasma membrane. We further demonstrated that CXCR4- or UTS2R-induced inhibition of autophagy favors the formation of adhesion complexes to the extracellular matrix and is required for chemotactic migration. Altogether, our data reveal a new link between GPCR signaling and the autophagy machinery, and may help to envisage therapeutic strategies in pathological processes such as cancer cell invasion.

Signaling switch of the urotensin II vasosactive peptide GPCR: prototypic chemotaxic mechanism in glioma

Multiform glioblastomas (GBM) are the most frequent and aggressive primary brain tumors in adults. The poor prognosis is due to neo-angiogenesis and cellular invasion, processes that require complex chemotaxic mechanisms involving motility, migration and adhesion. Understanding these different cellular events implies identifying receptors and transduction pathways that lead to and promote either migration or adhesion. Here we establish that glioma express the vasoactive peptide urotensin II (UII) and its receptor UT and that UT-mediated signaling cascades are involved in glioma cell migration and adhesion. Components of the urotensinergic systems, UII and UT, are widely expressed in patient-derived GBM tissue sections, glioma cell lines and fresh biopsy explants. Interestingly, gradient concentrations of UII produced chemoattracting migratory/motility effects in glioma as well as HEK293 cells expressing human UT. These effects mainly involved the G13/Rho/rho kinase pathway while partially requiring Gi/o/PI3K components. In contrast, we observed that homogeneous concentrations of UII drastically blocked cell motility and stimulated cell-matrix adhesions through a UT/Gi/o signaling cascade, partially involving phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase. Finally, we provide evidence that, in glioma cells, homogeneous concentration of UII allowed translocation of Gα13 to the UT receptor at the plasma membrane and increased actin stress fibers, lamellipodia formation and vinculin-stained focal adhesions. UII also provoked a re-localization of UT precoupled to Gαi in filipodia and initiated integrin-stained focal points. Altogether, these findings suggest that UT behaves as a chemotaxic receptor, relaying a signaling switch between directional migration and cell adhesion under gradient or homogeneous concentrations, thereby redefining sequential mechanisms affecting tumor cells during glioma invasion. Taken together, our results allow us to propose a model in order to improve the design of compounds that demonstrate signaling bias for therapies that target specifically the Gi/o signaling pathway.

Up-regulation of urotensin II and its receptor contributes to human hepatocellular carcinoma growth via activation of the PKC, ERK1/2, and p38 MAPK signaling pathways

Urotensin II (UII) and its receptor (UTR) have mitogenic effects on tumor growth. Our previous study demonstrated that the UII/UTR system is up-regulated in dithyinitrosamine-induced precancerous rat liver lesions. However, its role in human hepatocellular carcinoma remains unknown. In this study, the mRNA and protein expression of UII and its receptor (UTR) in human hepatocellular carcinoma samples and in the BEL-7402 human hepatoma cell line were evaluated. In addition, the effect of exogenous UII on the pathways that regulate proliferation in BEL-7402 cells in vitro were determined. Liver sections were subjected to immunohistochemical staining. mRNA expression was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, and protein levels were evaluated by western blotting. Proliferating cells were detected by BrdU incorporation. The expression of UII/UT mRNA and protein significantly increased in human hepatocellular carcinoma samples, and in BEL-7402 cells. Administration with UII increased the phosphorylation of protein kinase C (PKC), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38 MAPK). Furthermore, GF109203x, PD184352, and SB203580 partially abolished UII-induced proliferation of BEL-7402 cells. These results provide the first evidence that up-regulation of the UII/UT system may enhance proliferation of the human hepatoma cell line at least in part via PKC, ERK1/2, and p38 MAPK signaling pathways, and may provide novel therapeutic targets for inhibiting human hepatocellular carcinoma.

The relationship between urotensin II and its receptor and the clinicopathological parameters of breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Urotensin II is a vasoactive polypeptide. It is known that some vasoactive polypeptides are produced and secreted by tumor cells, and act as a paracrine growth stimulant. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between urotensin II and its receptor's messenger RNA expression in breast cancer.

MATERIAL/METHODS

Fifty-nine women with breast cancer were included in this study. The median age was 48 years. The relationships between urotensin II and urotensin II receptor mRNA expressions, which were derived from fresh breast cancer tissues and adjacent normal breast tissues, and clinical and pathological parameters, were assessed.

RESULTS

We found expressions of urotensin II mRNA and its receptor in 55 of 59 breast cancer tissues and in 55 of 59 normal breast tissues. We found a positive significant correlation between urotensin II and its receptor (p=0.001, r=0.632), and found a negative, but insignificant, correlation between urotensin II and age (p=0.038, r=-0.281). Urotensin II levels were higher in the premenopausal group compared to the postmenopausal group (p<0.05). The mean urotensin II receptor expression was higher in the premenopausal group (p<0.05) compared to the postmenopausal group, and its expression was also higher in the group without extra-nodal invasion compared to that of the group with extra-nodal invasion (p=0.001). Urotensin II levels were higher in the group without lymphatic invasion compared to the group with lymphatic invasion (p=0.048).

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first in the English medical literature to determine the urotensin II and its receptor mRNA expressions in breast cancer tissues. Consequently, urotensin II seems be associated with menopausal status, and extra-nodal and lymphatic invasion.