scholarly journals Next-Generation Multimodality of Nanomedicine Therapy: Folic Acid Conjugated Copolymer and Folate Receptor Interactions Disrupt Receptor Functionality Resulting in Dual Therapeutic Anti-Cancer Potential in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Author(s):  
Alexandria DeCarlo ◽  
Cecile Malardier-Jugroot ◽  
Myron R Szewczuk

The development of a highly specific drug delivery system (DDS) for anti-cancer therapeutics is an area of intense research focus. Chemical engineering of a “smart” DDS to specifically target tumor cells has gained interest, designed for safer, more efficient, and effective use of chemotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer. However, the selective targeting and choosing the critical cancer surface biomarker are essential for targeted treatments to work. The folic acid receptor alpha (FRalpha) has gained popularity as a potential target in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We have previously reported on a functionalized folic acid (FA)-conjugated amphiphilic alternating copolymer poly(styrene-alt-maleic anhydride) (FA-DABA-SMA) via a biodegradable linker 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DABA) that has the essential features for efficient “smart” DDS. This biocompatible DDS self-assembles in a pH-dependent manner, providing stimuli-responsive, active targeting, extended-release of hydrophobic chemotherapeutic agents, and can effectively penetrate the inner core of 3-dimensional cancer spheroid models. The empty FA-DABA-SMA decreased spheroid volume, revealing a previously unknown mechanism of action. Upon further investigation, a size- and shape-dependent interaction FA-DABA-SMA with FR reduced the expression of p53, the product of the highly mutated TP53 gene, and additional oncogenic c-Myc and STAT3 proteins. Here, we investigated how this copolymer influences FR behavior and disrupting the receptor’s functions. Results indicate that FA-DABA-SMA increases FR expression levels in breast MDA MB-231 cancer cells and disrupting FR signaling by the reduction in HES1 and NOTCH1 protein expression levels. Also, FA-DABA-SMA induces apoptosis and further causes a change in the morphology of the MDA MB-231 cells, as well as significantly reduces their ability to migrate in a Scratch wound assay. Collectively, these findings provide a novel insight into the functionalized FA-DABA-SMA copolymer. The 350 kDa and 20 kDa copolymers actively target FRα to initialize internationalization. However, only the large size and sheet-shaped 350 kDa copolymers disrupt FRα signaling. The significance of these novel findings reveals the intracellular activity of the copolymer that is critically dependent on the size and structural shape. This report offers novel therapeutic insight into a dual mechanism of FA-DABA-SMA copolymer for its therapeutic potential for the treatment of cancer.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e12583-e12583
Author(s):  
Eriko Katsuta ◽  
Li Yan ◽  
Mateusz Opyrchal ◽  
Pawel Kalinski ◽  
Kazuaki Takabe

e12583 Background: Cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) infiltration into tumor is a positive prognostic factor in breast cancer. Infiltration of CTLs are believed to be driven by mutation-induced neoantigens, thus, higher tumor mutation burden (TMB) is considered an important predictor of tumor immunogenicity and response to immunotherapy, but the association between intratumoral CTL counts and TMB in the overall cancer prognosis remains unclear. Methods: Utilizing publicly available breast cancer cohorts, we established Functional Hotness Score (FHS), based on CD8A, GZMB and CXCL10 gene expression levels of bulk tumors. The associations of FHS and breast cancer patient prognosis as well as distinct immunity markers were analyzed. Results: Breast cancer patients with high-FHS tumors demonstrated significantly better survival. FHS was lower in metastatic breast cancer. Among breast cancer subtypes, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) showed the highest FHS. FHS predicted patient survival not in hormone receptor (HR)-positive but in HR-negative, especially TNBCs. The high-FHS TNBCs enhanced not only CD8+ T cell infiltration, but also a broader type-1 anti-cancer immunity. The patients with the high-FHS patients showed better prognosis not only in high-TMB tumors but also in low-TMB TNBCs. The combination of high-TMB with high-FHS identified the unique subset of patients who did not recur over time. Conclusions: In conclusion, TNBCs with high-FHS based on the expression levels of CD8A, GZMB and CXCL10 showed improved prognosis with higher anti-cancer immunity regardless of TMB, and constituting an independent prognostic marker of survival, particularly robust when combined with TMB.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (16) ◽  
pp. 1983-1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui-Yuan Lu ◽  
Jian-Sheng Zhu ◽  
Zhan Zhang ◽  
Wei-Jian Shen ◽  
Shan Jiang ◽  
...  

Background: Breast Cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. As such, novel chemotherapeutic agents are urgently needed, especially for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). Hydroxytyrosol (HT) and Oleuropein (OL) are rich in olive oil, which is associated with a low occurrence of BC. However, the effects and mechanisms of action of HT and OL in BC cells are still unclear. This study aimed to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the antitumor effect of HT and OL in TNBC. Methods: TNBC MDA-MB-231 cells were treated with HT and OL in combination with Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF), rapamycin (Rapa, an inducer of autophagy) or 3-methyladenine (3-MA, an inhibitor of autophagy). Cell viability, migration, invasion, and autophagy signaling were analyzed by scratch assays, transwell migration assays, and Western blot analysis. Results: Treatment with HT or OL reduced MDA-MB-231 cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. MDAMB- 231 cells were more sensitive to HT treatment than OL treatment. Rapa treatment could significantly block HGF-induced MDA-MB-231 cell migration and invasion, suggesting that inhibition of autophagy could promote migration and invasion. Moreover, HT or OL treatment significantly suppressed HGF or 3-MA induced cell migration and invasion by reversing LC3-II/LC3-I and Beclin-1 downregulation and reversing p62 upregulation. Conclusion: These data indicated that HT and OL may inhibit migration and invasion of TNBC cells by activating autophagy. These findings provide potential therapeutic strategies that target autophagy to limit the pathogenesis and progression of BC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e13096-e13096
Author(s):  
Elias Eteshola ◽  
Karenia Landa ◽  
Eun-Sil Shelley Hwang ◽  
Smita Nair ◽  
Bruce Sullenger

e13096 Background: Breast cancers remain the most lethal malignancies amongst women worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortalities in the US. Subtype heterogeneity and aggressive invasive potential are believed to be the major contributors of these outcomes. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) are notoriously aggressive, difficult-to-treat, and metastatic. Inflammation-driven tumorigenesis has been shown to correlate with cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and other damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in cancer patient sera. We showed that nucleic-acid scavengers (NAS) can block pro-inflammatory signals elicited by DAMP-activation of innate immune sensors (e.g. toll-like receptors). Treatment with the NAS PAMAM-G3 drastically reduced liver metastatic burden in an immunocompetent murine model of pancreatic cancer. Methods: TNBC cells lines were treated with a cocktail of standard-of-care chemotherapeutic agents and the conditioned media (CM) from these cells served as an in vitro DAMP source. Downstream function of TLR activation was tested via a HEK293-TLR reporter cell line measuring absorbance at 655nm. The in vitro invasive phenotype was tested and quantified using a Transwell-Matrigel invasion assay. Cytokine secretion was measured using a BioLegend cytokine array. Results: TNBC CM greatly increased TNBC cell invasion in vitro and that treatment with the NAS PAMAM-G3 significantly inhibits this effect. Treatment of human monocytes (THP-1) with TNBC CM elicited a strong pro-inflammatory response with elevated levels of IL-8, IL-6, CCL2, and IL-1β. Other biologically immune responders including human PBMCs will be tested to determine the potential impact on the tumor immune microenvironment during tumorigenesis and treatment. Conclusions: To elucidate the mechanism by which this NAS works in these tumor settings, our lab has developed several PAMAM-G3 derivatives, including biotin, IR-, and near-IR fluorophore labeled molecules. These molecules will allow us to capture and characterize DAMPs and do in vivo live imaging experiments to gain insight into NAS PK/PD properties. This insight into NAS capabilities will enhance our understanding of metastatic progression and its interplay with the immune system. Moreover, these principles will aid in the development of novel of anti-metastatic therapies to improve TNBC patient outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Chappell ◽  
Kanishka Manna ◽  
Charity L. Washam ◽  
Stefan Graw ◽  
Duah Alkam ◽  
...  

Multi-omics data integration of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) provides insight into biological pathways.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1820
Author(s):  
Anna Makuch-Kocka ◽  
Janusz Kocki ◽  
Anna Brzozowska ◽  
Jacek Bogucki ◽  
Przemysław Kołodziej ◽  
...  

The BIRC (baculoviral IAP repeat-containing; BIRC) family genes encode for Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAP) proteins. The dysregulation of the expression levels of the genes in question in cancer tissue as compared to normal tissue suggests that the apoptosis process in cancer cells was disturbed, which may be associated with the development and chemoresistance of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). In our study, we determined the expression level of eight genes from the BIRC family using the Real-Time PCR method in patients with TNBC and compared the obtained results with clinical data. Additionally, using bioinformatics tools (Ualcan and The Breast Cancer Gene-Expression Miner v4.5 (bc-GenExMiner v4.5)), we compared our data with the data in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. We observed diverse expression pattern among the studied genes in breast cancer tissue. Comparing the expression level of the studied genes with the clinical data, we found that in patients diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 50, the expression levels of all studied genes were higher compared to patients diagnosed after the age of 50. We observed that in patients with invasion of neoplastic cells into lymphatic vessels and fat tissue, the expression levels of BIRC family genes were lower compared to patients in whom these features were not noted. Statistically significant differences in gene expression were also noted in patients classified into three groups depending on the basis of the Scarff-Bloom and Richardson (SBR) Grading System.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5475
Author(s):  
Griffin Wright ◽  
Manoj Sonavane ◽  
Natalie R. Gassman

Base Excision Repair (BER) addresses base lesions and abasic sites induced by exogenous and endogenous stressors. X-ray cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1) functions as a scaffold protein in BER and single-strand break repair (SSBR), facilitating and coordinating repair through its interaction with a host of critical repair proteins. Alterations of XRCC1 protein and gene expression levels are observed in many cancers, including colorectal, ovarian, and breast cancer. While increases in the expression level of XRCC1 are reported, the transcription factors responsible for this up-regulation are not known. In this study, we identify the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) as a novel regulator of XRCC1 through chromatin immunoprecipitation. Activation of STAT3 through phosphorylation at Y705 by cytokine (IL-6) signaling increases the expression of XRCC1 and the occupancy of STAT3 within the XRCC1 promoter. In triple negative breast cancer, the constitutive activation of STAT3 upregulates XRCC1 gene and protein expression levels. Increased expression of XRCC1 is associated with aggressiveness and resistance to DNA damaging chemotherapeutics. Thus, we propose that activated STAT3 regulates XRCC1 under stress and growth conditions, but constitutive activation in cancers results in dysregulation of XRCC1 and subsequently BER and SSBR.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 096368972092998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuang Du ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Yingying Zhang ◽  
Jianhua Zhang ◽  
Linfeng Zhang ◽  
...  

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive cancer types with high recurrence, metastasis, and drug resistance. Recent studies report that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)-mediated competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNA) play an important role in tumorigenesis and drug resistance of TNBC. Although elevated lncRNA DLX6 antisense RNA 1 (DLX6-AS1) has been observed to promote carcinogenesis in various cancers, the role in TNBC remained unclear. In this study, expression levels of DLX6-AS1 were increased in TNBC tissues and cell lines when compared with normal tissues or breast fibroblast cells which were determined by quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Then, CCK-8 assay, cell colony formation assay and western blot were performed in CAL-51 cells transfected with siRNAs of DLX6-AS1 or MDA-MB-231 cells transfected with DLX6-AS1 over expression plasmids. Knock down of DLX6-AS1 inhibited cell proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), decreased expression levels of BCL2 apoptosis regulator (Bcl-2), Snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (Snail) as well as N-cadherin and decreased expression levels of cleaved caspase-3, γ-catenin as well as E-cadherin, while up regulation of DLX6-AS1 had the opposite effect. Besides, knockdown of DLX6-AS1 in CAL-51 cells or up regulation of DLX6-AS1 in MDA-MB-231 cells also decreased or increased cisplatin resistance of those cells analyzed by MTT assay. Moreover, by using dual luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation and RNA pull down assay, a ceRNA which was consisted by lncRNA DLX6-AS1, microRNA-199b-5p (miR-199b-5p) and paxillin (PXN) was identified. And DLX6-AS1 function through miR-199b-5p/PXN in TNBC cells. Finally, results of xenograft experiments using nude mice showed that DLX6-AS1 regulated cell proliferation, EMT and cisplatin resistance by miR-199b-5p/PXN axis in vivo. In brief, DLX6-AS1 promoted cell proliferation, EMT, and cisplatin resistance through miR-199b-5p/PXN signaling in TNBC in vitro and in vivo.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Goh ◽  
Inna Sleptsova-Freidrich ◽  
Nenad Petrovic

PURPOSE: Triple negative breast cancers (estrogen, progesterone and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) receptor-negative) are among the most aggressive forms of cancers with limited treatment options. Doxorubicin is one of the agents found in many of the current cancer treatment protocols, although its use is limited by dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. This work investigates one of the ways to suppress cancer growth by inhibiting tumor cell ability to remove acid accumulated during its metabolism by proton pump inhibitor esomeprazole (a drug with extensive clinical use) which could serve as an addition to doxorubicin therapy. METHODS: In this work, we have investigated growth suppression of triple-negative breast cancer cells MDA-MB-468 by esomeprazole and doxorubicin by trypan blue exclusion assay. Measurement of acidification of treated cancer cells was performed using intracellular pH-sensitive probe, BCECF-AM. Finally, expression of gastric type proton pump (H+/K+ ATPase, a target for esomeprazole) on MDA-MB-468 cells was detected by immunofluorescence and Western blotting. RESULTS: We have found that esomeprazole suppresses growth of triple-negative breast cancer cell in vitro in a dose-dependent manner through increase in their intracellular acidification. In contrast, esomeprazole did not have significant effect on non-cancerous breast epithelial MCF-10A cells. Esomeprazole increases doxorubicin effects suggesting that dual treatments might be possible. In addition, response of MDA-MB-468 cells to esomeprazole could be mediated by gastric type proton pump (H+/K+ ATPase) in cancer cells contrary to previous beliefs that this proton pump expression is restricted to parietal cells of the stomach epithelia. CONCLUSION: This study provides first evidence that adjunct use of esomeprazole in breast cancer treatment might be a possible to combat adverse effects of doxorubicin and increase its effectiveness. This article is open to POST-PUBLICATION REVIEW. Registered readers (see “For Readers”) may comment by clicking on ABSTRACT on the issue’s contents page.


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