Background:
Hypoxia (deprived oxygen in tissues) may induce molecular and genetic changes in cancer cells.
Objective:
Investigating the genetic changes of glucose metabolism in breast cancer cell line (MCF7) after exposure to continuous hypoxia
(10 and 20 cycles exposure of 72 hours continuously on a weekly basis).
Method:
Gene expression of MCF7 cells was evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction- array method. Furthermore, cell migration
and wound healing assays were also applied.
Results:
It was found that 10 episodes of continuous hypoxia activated Warburg effect in MCF7 cells via the significant up-regulation of
genes involved in glycolysis (ANOVA, p value < 0.05). The molecular changes were associated with the ability of MCF7 cells to divide and
migrate. Interestingly, after 20 episodes of continuous hypoxia, the expression glycolysis mediated genes has dropped significantly (from 30
to 9 folds). This could be attributed to the adaptive ability of cancer cells.
Conclusion:
It is concluded that 10 hypoxic episodes increased the survival rate and the aggressiveness of MCF7 cells and induced Warburg
effect by up-regulation of the glycolysis mediating genes expression.
Synthesis and In Vitro Evaluation of 2-[3-(2-Aminoethyl)-1H-indol-1-yl]-N-benzylquinazolin-4-amine as a Novel p97/VCP Inhibitor Lead Capable of Inducing Apoptosis in Cancer Cells
