scholarly journals The structural and functional analysis of the human HSPA2 gene promoter region.

2007 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Pigłowski ◽  
Radosława Nowak ◽  
Zdzisław Krawczyk ◽  
Dorota Scieglińska

HSPA2 is a human counterpart of the testis-specific rodent Hst70/Hsp70.2 gene. In contrast to the latter, the expression of the human HSPA2 gene is not limited to the testis, and recent data show that human tumor cells can express this gene at significant levels. The characteristics of HSPA2 expression suggests that it can influence the phenotype and survival of cancer cells similarly as overexpression of major members of the HSP70 gene family. Until now, neither the structure of the transcription unit of the human HSPA2 gene has been established nor a functional analysis of its promoter performed. In this study we established that the human HSPA2 gene, in contrast to its rodent counterparts, is intronless and has a single transcription start site. We also show that the same type of HSPA2 transcripts are synthesized in the testes and in cancer cell lines. In order to perform a functional study of the HSPA2 promoter, we used a transient transfection assay and found that the 392 bp fragment upstream of the ATG codon was a minimal region required for efficient transcription, while a 150 bp deletion from the 5' end of this region dramatically reduced the promoter activity. Delineation of the minimal promoter is a basic step toward identifying the cis and trans elements involved in the regulation of the HSPA2 gene expression in cancer cells.

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (16) ◽  
pp. 1949-1965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Szkaradek ◽  
Daniel Sypniewski ◽  
Dorota Żelaszczyk ◽  
Sabina Gałka ◽  
Paulina Borzdziłowska ◽  
...  

Background: Natural plant metabolites and their semisynthetic derivatives have been used for years in cancer therapy. Xanthones are oxygenated heterocyclic compounds produced as secondary metabolites by higher plants, fungi or lichens. Xanthone core may serve as a template in the synthesis of many derivatives that have broad biological activities. Objective: This study synthesized a series of 17 new xanthones, and their anticancer potential was also evaluated. Methods: The anticancer potential was evaluated in vitro using a highly invasive T24 cancer cell line. Direct cytotoxic effects of the xanthones were established by IC50 estimation based on XTT assay. Results: 5 compounds of the total 17 showed significant cytotoxicity toward the studied cancer cultures and were submitted to further detailed analysis, including studies examining their influence on gelatinase A and B expression, as well as on the cancer cells migration and adhesion to an extracellular matrix. These analyses were carried out on five human tumor cell lines: A2780 (ovarian cancer), A549 (lung cancer), HeLa (cervical cancer), Hep G2 (liver cancer), and T24 (urinary bladder cancer). All the compounds, especially 4, showed promising anticancer activity: they exhibited significant cytotoxicity towards all the evaluated cell lines, including MCF-7 breast cancer, and hindered migration-motility activity of cancer cells demonstrating more potent activity than α-mangostin which served as a reference xanthone. Conclusion: These results suggest that our xanthone derivatives may be further analyzed in order to include them in cancer treatment protocols.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1132
Author(s):  
Javier A. Menendez ◽  
Adriana Papadimitropoulou ◽  
Travis Vander Steen ◽  
Elisabet Cuyàs ◽  
Bharvi P. Oza-Gajera ◽  
...  

The identification of clinically important molecular mechanisms driving endocrine resistance is a priority in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer. Although both genomic and non-genomic cross-talk between the ER and growth factor receptors such as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) has frequently been associated with both experimental and clinical endocrine therapy resistance, combined targeting of ER and HER2 has failed to improve overall survival in endocrine non-responsive disease. Herein, we questioned the role of fatty acid synthase (FASN), a lipogenic enzyme linked to HER2-driven breast cancer aggressiveness, in the development and maintenance of hormone-independent growth and resistance to anti-estrogens in ER/HER2-positive (ER+/HER2+) breast cancer. The stimulatory effects of estradiol on FASN gene promoter activity and protein expression were blunted by anti-estrogens in endocrine-responsive breast cancer cells. Conversely, an AKT/MAPK-related constitutive hyperactivation of FASN gene promoter activity was unaltered in response to estradiol in non-endocrine responsive ER+/HER2+ breast cancer cells, and could be further enhanced by tamoxifen. Pharmacological blockade with structurally and mechanistically unrelated FASN inhibitors fully impeded the strong stimulatory activity of tamoxifen on the soft-agar colony forming capacity—an in vitro metric of tumorigenicity—of ER+/HER2+ breast cancer cells. In vivo treatment with a FASN inhibitor completely prevented the agonistic tumor-promoting activity of tamoxifen and fully restored its estrogen antagonist properties against ER/HER2-positive xenograft tumors in mice. Functional cancer proteomic data from The Cancer Proteome Atlas (TCPA) revealed that the ER+/HER2+ subtype was the highest FASN protein expressor compared to basal-like, HER2-enriched, and ER+/HER2-negative breast cancer groups. FASN is a biological determinant of HER2-driven endocrine resistance in ER+ breast cancer. Next-generation, clinical-grade FASN inhibitors may be therapeutically relevant to countering resistance to tamoxifen in FASN-overexpressing ER+/HER2+ breast carcinomas.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 480
Author(s):  
Rakshitha Pandulal Miskin ◽  
Janine S. A. Warren ◽  
Abibatou Ndoye ◽  
Lei Wu ◽  
John M. Lamar ◽  
...  

In the current study, we demonstrate that integrin α3β1 promotes invasive and metastatic traits of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells through induction of the transcription factor, Brain-2 (Brn-2). We show that RNAi-mediated suppression of α3β1 in MDA-MB-231 cells caused reduced expression of Brn-2 mRNA and protein and reduced activity of the BRN2 gene promoter. In addition, RNAi-targeting of Brn-2 in MDA-MB-231 cells decreased invasion in vitro and lung colonization in vivo, and exogenous Brn-2 expression partially restored invasion to cells in which α3β1 was suppressed. α3β1 promoted phosphorylation of Akt in MDA-MB-231 cells, and treatment of these cells with a pharmacological Akt inhibitor (MK-2206) reduced both Brn-2 expression and cell invasion, indicating that α3β1-Akt signaling contributes to Brn-2 induction. Analysis of RNAseq data from patients with invasive breast carcinoma revealed that high BRN2 expression correlates with poor survival. Moreover, high BRN2 expression positively correlates with high ITGA3 expression in basal-like breast cancer, which is consistent with our experimental findings that α3β1 induces Brn-2 in TNBC cells. Together, our study demonstrates a pro-invasive/pro-metastatic role for Brn-2 in breast cancer cells and identifies a role for integrin α3β1 in regulating Brn-2 expression, thereby revealing a novel mechanism of integrin-dependent breast cancer cell invasion.


2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eve G. Pearce ◽  
Ross C. Laxton ◽  
Andresa C. Pereira ◽  
Shu Ye

2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 957-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingzhen Lin ◽  
Guo-quan Chen ◽  
Dongmei Xiao ◽  
Siva Kumar Kolluri ◽  
Xihua Cao ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Retinoic acid receptor β (RARβ) plays a critical role in mediating the anticancer effects of retinoids. Expression of RARβ is highly induced by retinoic acid (RA) through a RA response element (βRARE) that is activated by heterodimers of RARs and retinoid X receptors (RXRs). However, RARβ induction is often lost in cancer cells despite expression of RARs and RXRs. In this study, we provide evidence that orphan receptor COUP-TF is required for induction of RARβ expression, growth inhibition, and apoptosis by RA in cancer cells. Expression of COUP-TF correlates with RARβ induction in a variety of cancer cell lines. In addition, stable expression of COUP-TF in COUP-TF-negative cancer cells restores induction of RARβ expression, growth inhibition, and apoptosis by RA, whereas inhibition of COUP-TF by expression of COUP-TF antisense RNA represses the RA effects. In a transient transfection assay, COUP-TF strongly induced transcriptional activity of the RARβ promoter in a RA- and RARα-dependent manner. By mutation analysis, we demonstrate that the effect of COUP-TF requires its binding to a DR-8 element present in the RARβ promoter. The binding of COUP-TF to the DR-8 element synergistically increases the RA-dependent RARα transactivation function by enhancing the interaction of RARα with its coactivator CREB binding protein. These results demonstrate that COUP-TF, by serving as an accessory protein for RARα to induce RARβ expression, plays a critical role in regulating the anticancer activities of retinoids.


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