scholarly journals Partial acquisition of stemness properties in tumorspheres obtained from interleukin-8-treated MCF-7 cells

Tumor Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (12) ◽  
pp. 101042832097943
Author(s):  
Natalia Ospina-Muñoz ◽  
Jean-Paul Vernot

The interleukin-8 is an important regulator of the tumor microenvironment, promoting the epithelial–mesenchymal transition and the acquisition of stem-like cell properties in cancer cells. The tumorsphere-formation assay has been used for the identification of cancer stem cell. Interleukin-8 induces the formation of larger tumorspheres in Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) cells, suggesting cancer stem cell enrichment. In this work, we aimed to study the phenotypic and functional characteristics of the cells present within the tumorspheres of MCF-7 cells previously treated with interleukin-8. MCF-7 cells treated for 5 days or not with this cytokine were further cultivated in ultralow attachment plates for another 5 days to allow tumorspheres formation. We showed that the enhanced sphere formation by MCF-7 cells was not a consequence of higher cell proliferation by interleukin-8 stimulation. Despite maintaining an epithelial–mesenchymal transition phenotype with the presence of epithelial and mesenchymal markers, basic stemness properties were impaired in tumorspheres and in those treated with interleukin-8, while others were increased. Self-renewal capacity was increased in interleukin-8-treated cells only in the first generation of tumorspheres but was not sustained in consecutive assays. Accordingly, self-renewal and reprogramming gene expression, differentiation capacity to adipocytes, and clonogenicity were also impaired. We showed also that tumorspheres were enriched in differentiated luminal cells (EpCAM+/CD49f−). Nevertheless, cells were more quiescent and maintain a partial epithelial–mesenchymal transition, consistent with their increased resistance to Paclitaxel and Doxorubicin. They also presented higher migration and interleukin-8-directed invasion. Therefore, the breast cancer cell line MCF-7, having a low stemness index, might partially acquire some stem-like cell attributes after interleukin-8 stimulation, increasing its aggressiveness.

Author(s):  
Stefania Livia Ciummo ◽  
Luigi D’Antonio ◽  
Carlo Sorrentino ◽  
Cristiano Fieni ◽  
Paola Lanuti ◽  
...  

Breast cancer (BC) mortality is mainly due to metastatic disease, which is primarily driven by cancer stem cells (CSC). The chemokine C-X-C motif ligand-1 (CXCL1) is involved in BC metastasis, but the question of whether it regulates breast cancer stem cell (BCSC) behavior is yet to be explored. Here, we demonstrate that BCSCs express CXCR2 and produce CXCL1, which stimulates their proliferation and self-renewal, and that CXCL1 blockade inhibits both BCSC proliferation and mammosphere formation efficiency. CXCL1 amplifies its own production and remarkably induces both tumor-promoting and immunosuppressive factors, including SPP1/OPN, ACKR3/CXCR7, TLR4, TNFSF10/TRAIL and CCL18 and, to a lesser extent, immunostimulatory cytokines, including IL15, while it downregulates CCL2, CCL28, and CXCR4. CXCL1 downregulates TWIST2 and SNAI2, while it boosts TWIST1 expression in association with the loss of E-Cadherin, ultimately promoting BCSC epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Bioinformatic analyses of transcriptional data obtained from BC samples of 1,084 patients, reveals that CXCL1 expressing BCs mostly belong to the Triple-Negative (TN) subtype, and that BC expression of CXCL1 strongly correlates with that of pro-angiogenic and cancer promoting genes, such as CXCL2-3-5-6, FGFBP1, BCL11A, PI3, B3GNT5, BBOX1, and PTX3, suggesting that the CXCL1 signaling cascade is part of a broader tumor-promoting signaling network. Our findings reveal that CXCL1 functions as an autocrine growth factor for BCSCs and elicits primarily tumor progression and immune escape programs. Targeting the CXCL1/CXCR2 axis could restrain the BCSC compartment and improve the treatment of aggressive BC.


Biomolecules ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Natpaphan Yawut ◽  
Il-Rae Cho ◽  
Phatcharaporn Budluang ◽  
Sirichat Kaowinn ◽  
Chutima Kaewpiboon ◽  
...  

Overexpression of cancer upregulated gene (CUG) 2 induces cancer stem cell-like phenotypes, such as enhanced epithelial-mesenchymal transition, sphere formation, and doxorubicin resistance. However, the precise mechanism of CUG2-induced oncogenesis remains unknown. We evaluated the effects of overexpression of CUG2 on microRNA levels using a microRNA microarray. Levels of miR-3656 were decreased when CUG2 was overexpressed; on the basis of this result, we further examined the target proteins of this microRNA. We focused on Jumonji C domain-containing protein 5 (JMJD5), as it has not been previously reported to be targeted by miR-3656. When CUG2 was overexpressed, JMJD5 expression was upregulated compared to that in control cells. A 3′ untranslated region (UTR) assay revealed that an miR-3656 mimic targeted the JMJD5 3′UTR, but the miR-3656 mimic failed to target a mutant JMJD5 3′UTR, indicating that miR-3656 targets the JMJD5 transcript. Administration of the miR-3656 mimic decreased the protein levels of JMD5 according to Western blotting. Additionally, the miR-3656 mimic decreased CUG2-induced cell migration, evasion, and sphere formation and sensitized the cells to doxorubicin. Suppression of JMJD5, with its small interfering RNA, impeded CUG2-induced cancer stem cell-like phenotypes. Thus, overexpression of CUG2 decreases miR-3656 levels, leading to upregulation of JMJD5, eventually contributing to cancer stem cell-like phenotypes.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetsu Hayashida ◽  
Hiromitsu Jinno ◽  
Yuko Kitagawa ◽  
Masaki Kitajima

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a multistep process in which cells acquire molecular alterations such as loss of cell-cell junctions and restructuring of the cytoskeleton. There is an increasing understanding that this process may promote breast cancer progression through promotion of invasive and metastatic tumor growth. Recent observations imply that there may be a cross-talk between EMT and cancer stem cell properties, leading to enhanced tumorigenicity and the capacity to generate heterogeneous tumor cell populations. Here, we review the experimental and clinical evidence for the involvement of EMT in cancer stem cell theory, focusing on the common characteristics of this phenomenon.


Oncogene ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (32) ◽  
pp. 4123-4131 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Bessède ◽  
C Staedel ◽  
L A Acuña Amador ◽  
P H Nguyen ◽  
L Chambonnier ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey T. Lin ◽  
Cindy G. Santander ◽  
Fabricia F. Nascimento ◽  
Emanuele Marchi ◽  
Timokratis Karamitros ◽  
...  

AbstractEndogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are remnants of ancient retroviral infections that make up 8% of the human genome. Although these elements are mostly fragmented and inactive, many proviruses belonging to the HERV-K (HML-2) family, the youngest lineage in the human genome, have intact open reading frames, some encoding for accessory genes called np9 and rec that interact with oncogenic pathways. Many studies have established that ERVs are transiently expressed in both stem cells and cancer, resulting in aberrant self-renewal and uncontrolled proliferation. np9 and rec expression are significantly correlated with a range of cancer stem cell (CSC) and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) biomarkers, including cellular receptors, transcription factors, and histone modifiers. Surprisingly, these ERV genes are negatively correlated with genes known to promote pluripotency in embryonic stem cell lines, such as Oct4. These results indicate that HERV-K (HML-2) is part of the transcriptional landscape responsible for cancer cells undergoing the phenotypic switch that characterises EMT. The discovery of np9 and rec’s correlation with CSC and EMT biomarkers suggest a yet undescribed role affecting the transitional CSC-like state in EMT and the shift towards cancer malignancy.ImportanceIn this study, we find that human endogenous retrovirus HERV-K (HML-2)-encoded genes np9 and rec are correlated with the expression of many biomarkers associated with cancer stem cells (CSC) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). There has been a significant effort to develop novel treatments targeting CSC and EMT-specific signalling pathways and cell surface markers. This research describes HERV-K (HML-2) as interacting or being part of the regulatory network that make up reversible cell state switching in EMT. Our findings suggest these specific HERVs may be good candidate biomarkers in identifying the transitional CSC-like states that are present during the progression of EMT and cancer metastasis.


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