The liver-enriched inhibitory protein isoform of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta, but not nuclear factor-kappaB, mediates the transcriptional inhibition of beta-casein by tumor necrosis factor-alpha

Mammary cell-activating factor regulates the hormone-independent transcription of the early lactation protein (ELP) gene in a marsupial

The regulation of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) early lactation protein (ELP) gene is complex. ELP is responsive to the lactogenic hormones; insulin (I), hydrocortisone (HC) and prolactin (PRL) in mammary gland explants but could not be induced with lactogenic hormones in tammar primary mammary gland cells, nor in KIM-2 conditionally immortalised murine mammary epithelial cells. Similarly, ELP promoter constructs transiently-transfected into human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cells constitutively expressing the prolactin receptor (PRLR) and Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (STAT)5A were unresponsive to prolactin, unlike the rat and mouse β-casein (CSN2) promoter constructs. Identification of the minimal promoter required for the hormone-independent transcription of tammar ELP in HEK293Ts and comparative analysis of the proximal promoters of marsupial ELP and the orthologous eutherian colostrum trypsin inhibitor (CTI) gene suggests that mammary cell-activating factor (MAF), an E26 transformation-specific (ETS) factor, may bind to an AGGAAG motif and activate tammar ELP.

Suppression of prolactin signaling by pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate is alleviated by N-acetylcysteine in mammary epithelial cells

Prolactin is the key hormone to stimulate milk synthesis in mammary epithelial cells. It signals through the Jak2-Stat5 pathway to induce the expression of β-casein, a milk protein which is often used as a marker for mammary differentiation. Here we examined the effect of pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) on prolactin signaling. Our results show that PDTC downregulates prolactin receptor levels, and inhibits prolactin-induced Stat5 tyrosine phosphorylation and β-casein expression. This is not due to its inhibitory action on NF-κB since application of another NF-κB inhibitor, BAY 11-7082, and overexpression of I-κBα super-repressor do not lead to the same results. Instead, the pro-oxidant activity of PDTC is involved as inclusion of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine restores prolactin signaling. PDTC triggers great extents of activation of ERK and JNK in mammary epithelial cells. These do not cause suppression of prolactin signaling but confer serine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1, thereby perturbing insulin signal propagation. As insulin facilitates optimal β-casein expression, blocking insulin signaling by PDTC might pose additional impediment to β-casein expression. Our results thus imply that lactation will be compromised when the cellular redox balance is dysregulated, such as during mastitis.

Tumor necrosis factor deficiency inhibits mammary tumorigenesis and a tumor necrosis factor neutralizing antibody decreases mammary tumor growth in neu/erbB2 transgenic mice

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a pleiotropic cytokine that is synthesized and secreted by cells of the immune system, as well as by certain epithelia and stroma. Based on our previous studies demonstrating TNF-stimulated proliferation of normal and malignant mammary epithelial cells, we hypothesized that TNF might promote the growth of breast cancer in vivo. To test this, we generated bigenic mice that overexpressed activated neu/erbB2 in the mammary epithelium and whose TNF status was wild-type, heterozygous, or null. Mammary tumorigenesis was significantly decreased in TNF-/- mice (n = 30) compared with that in TNF+/+ mice (n = 27), with a palpable tumor incidence of 10.0% and 44.4%, and palpable tumors/mouse of 0.10 +/- 0.06 and 0.67 +/- 0.17, respectively. Tumorigenesis in the heterozygous group fell between that in the TNF+/+ and TNF-/- groups, but was not significantly different from either of the homozygous groups. The decreased tumor development in the TNF-/- mice was associated with a decreased proliferative index in the lobular and ductal mammary epithelium. To further investigate the role of TNF in breast cancer, mammary tumor-bearing mice whose tumors overexpressed wild-type neu/erbB2 were treated with a TNF-neutralizing antibody or a control antibody for 4 weeks (n = 20/group). Mammary tumor growth was significantly inhibited in mice treated with the anti-TNF antibody compared with the control antibody. Together, these data show a stimulatory role for TNF in the growth of breast tumors and suggest that TNF antagonists may be effective in a subset of patients with breast cancer.

The tumour necrosis factor-alpha-mediated suppression of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-alpha gene transcription in hepatocytes involves inhibition of autoregulation

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a key regulator of the immune and inflammatory responses along with numerous other cellular changes during physiological and pathophysiological conditions. The cellular actions of TNF-alpha are associated with both the activation and the inhibition of gene transcription. In contrast to gene activation, the mechanisms underlying the TNF-alpha-mediated transcriptional inhibition remain largely unclear. We have investigated this aspect using the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-alpha (C/EBPalpha) as a model gene. TNF-alpha decreased the expression of C/EBPalpha mRNA and protein in the human hepatoma Hep3B cell line. The activity of the proximal promoter of both the human and the Xenopus C/EBPalpha genes in transfected Hep3B cells was inhibited by TNF-alpha. Transient transfection assays using various Xenopus C/EBPalpha promoter-luciferase DNA constructs showed that a C/EBP recognition sequence was essential for the TNF-alpha response. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that C/EBPalpha bound to this site and co-transfection assays revealed that it was a major activator of the promoter and its transactivation potential was reduced by TNF-alpha. The potential role of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) in the response was also investigated in the light of its pivotal role in TNF-alpha signalling. Inhibition of NF-kappaB using pharmacological agents or by transfection of a plasmid specifying for a superrepressor attenuated the TNF-alpha-inhibited C/EBPalpha promoter activity. In addition, an involvement of NF-kappaB in DNA-protein interactions at the C/EBP recognition sequence was identified.

NFkappaB1/p50 is not required for tumor necrosis factor-stimulated growth of primary mammary epithelial cells: implications for NFkappaB2/p52 and RelB

Nuclear factor kappaB (NFkappaB) plays an important role in mammary gland development and breast cancer. We previously demonstrated that TNF stimulates growth of mammary epithelial cells (MEC) in a physiologically relevant three-dimensional primary culture system, accompanied by enhanced DNA-binding of the NFkappaB p50 homodimer. To further understand the mechanism of TNF-stimulated growth of primary MEC, the requirement for NFkappaB1/p50, and the role of cyclin D1 in TNF-stimulated growth were examined. TNF induced the formation of DNA-binding complexes of p50 and p52 with their coactivator bcl3 in MEC nuclear extracts. Concomitantly, TNF increased the binding of NFkappaB proteins to the kappaB site on the cyclin D1 promoter, and increased expression of cyclin D1 mRNA and protein. Using MEC from p50 null mice, we found that p50 was not required for TNF-induced growth nor for up-regulation of cyclin D1. However, TNF induced a p52/RelB NFkappaB DNA-binding complex in p50 null MEC nuclear extracts. In addition, we found that in wild-type MEC, TNF stimulated the occupancy of p52 and RelB on the cyclin D1 promoter kappaB site, whereas p50 was present constitutively. These data suggest that in wild-type MEC, TNF stimulates the interaction of bcl3 with p50 and p52, and the binding of p52, as well as RelB, to cyclin D1 promoter kappaB sites, and as a consequence, stimulates the growth of MEC. In the absence of p50, p52 and RelB can compensate for p50 in TNF-stimulated growth and cyclin D1 induction in MEC.

Leptin and prolactin modulate the expression of SOCS-1 in association with interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α in mammary cells: a role in differentiated secretory epithelium

Leptin and its receptors have been shown to be expressed in several tissues, suggesting that this protein might be effective not only at the CNS level but also peripherally. We have previously reported that leptin and its long form receptor are expressed in the mouse mammary epithelial cell line HC11. In this study, we report a specific relationship among leptin, prolactin (PRL), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis-alpha (TNF-alpha) in the modulation of the suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS-1). Furthermore, we show that leptin and PRL are able to effectively enhance SOCS-1 gene expression in the HC11 cell line. Finally, high concentrations of leptin (100 nM) and/or PRL significantly (p<0.05) reduce the inhibitory effect of IL-6 (10 and 100 ng/ml) and TNF-alpha (10 and 100 ng/ml) on beta-casein gene expression in HC11 cells transfected with pbetacCAT, a chimeric rat-beta casein gene promoter-cloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene construct. These results provide evidence that leptin may be an important mediator in regulating mammary gland growth and development and that this role may be related to the immune factors that are involved in inflammation.