Antitumor Activity and Underlying Mechanism of Phomoxanthone B in MCF7 Cells

Author(s):  
Chuan Chen ◽  
Ziyue Zhao ◽  
Qian Dong ◽  
XueHui Gao ◽  
Huibin Xu ◽  
...  

Background:: Xanthones are a class of heterocyclic natural products, which are promising sources of anticancer leads. Phomoxanthone B(PXB)and Phomoxanthone A(PXA)are xanthone dimers. PXA is well studied as an anti-cancer agent, but PXB is not. In our study, PXB was isolated from the endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. By254. Objective:: The purpose of this study was to identify the underlying anti-tumor mechanisms of PXB in breast cancer MCF7 cell line. Methods:: Apoptosis, cell cycle, proliferation, invasion and migration assays were used to assess the antitumor activity of PXB. RNA sequencing was used to analyze the effect of PXB treatment on gene expression in MCF7 cells. Results:: PXB showed cytotoxicity toward a variety of tumor cells, especially MCF7 cells. PXB inhibited the migration and invasion, arrested cell cycle at G2/M phase and induced apoptosis associated with caspase-3 activation in MCF7 cells. The detailed transcriptome analysis revealed that PXB affected several pathways related to tumorigenesis, metabolisms-, and oxidative phosphorylation in MCF7 cells. KEGG transcriptome analysis revealed that PXB upregulated pro-survival signal pathways such as MAPK, PI3K-AKT and STAT3 pathways. We found that PXB also significantly upregulated the expression of IL24, DDIT3 and XAF1, which may contribute to PXB-induced apoptosis. We further found that PXB may downregulate oxidative phosphorylation by decreasing the expression of electron transport chain genes, especially MT-ND1, which is a potential unfavorable prognostic marker for ER-positive breast cancer. Conclusion:: PXB exerts strong cytotoxicity against human tumor cells and has a potential for ER-positive breast cancer treatment.

2022 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Gianni ◽  
Marco Colleoni ◽  
Giancarlo Bisagni ◽  
Mauro Mansutti ◽  
Claudio Zamagni ◽  
...  

AbstractThe crosstalk between estrogen and HER2 receptors and cell-cycle regulation sustains resistance to endocrine therapy of HER2- and hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. We earlier reported that women with HER2 and ER-positive breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant dual HER2-block and palbociclib in the NA-PHER2 trial had Ki67 decrease and 27% pathological complete responses (pCR). We extended NA-PHER2 to Cohort B using dual HER2-block and palbociclib without fulvestrant and report here Ki67 drops at week-2 (mean change −25.7), at surgery (after 16 weeks, mean change −9.5), high objective response (88.5%) and pCR (19.2%). In Cohort C [Ki67 > 20% and HER2low (IHC 1+/2+ without gene amplification)], women also received fulvestrant, had dramatic Ki67 drop at week 2 (−29.5) persisting at surgery (−19.3), and objective responses in 78.3%. In view of the favorable tolerability and of the efficacy-predictive value of Ki67 drop at week-2, the chemotherapy-free approach of NA-PHER2 deserves further investigation in HER2 and ER-positive breast cancer. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02530424.


Author(s):  
Mayu Ono ◽  
Takaaki Oba ◽  
Tomohiro Shibata ◽  
Ken-ichi Ito

Abstract Purpose Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors are widely used for the treatment of advanced estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. To develop a treatment strategy for cancers resistant to CDK4/6 inhibitors, here, we established palbociclib-resistant sublines and analyzed their resistance mechanisms. Methods Palbociclib-resistant sublines were established from T47D and MCF7 cells. Sensitivity to other drugs was assessed via the WST assay. Altered expression/phosphorylation of proteins related to signal transduction and cell cycle regulation was examined using western blotting. Copy number alterations and mutations in the retinoblastoma (RB1) gene were also analyzed. Results Although an increase in CDK6 and decrease in retinoblastoma protein (Rb) expression/phosphorylation were commonly observed in the resistant sublines, changes in other cell cycle-related proteins were heterogeneous. Upon extended exposure to palbociclib, the expression/phosphorylation of these proteins became altered, and the long-term removal of palbociclib did not restore the Rb expression/phosphorylation patterns. Consistently a copy number decrease, as well as RB1 mutations were detected. Moreover, although the resistant sublines exhibited cross-resistance to abemaciclib, their response to dinaciclib was the same as that of wild-type cells. Of note, the cell line exhibiting increased mTOR phosphorylation also showed a higher sensitivity to everolimus. However, the sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents was unchanged in palbociclib-resistant sublines. Conclusion ER-positive breast cancer cells use multiple molecular mechanisms to survive in the presence of palbociclib, suggesting that targeting activated proteins may be an effective strategy to overcome resistance. Additionally, palbociclib monotherapy induces mutations and copy number alterations in the RB1 gene.


Endocrinology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 154 (6) ◽  
pp. 1990-1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
XianTian Zhang ◽  
Zhao-Yi Wang

Abstract Antiestrogens such as tamoxifen (TAM) provided a successful treatment for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer for the past four decades. However, most breast tumors are eventually resistant to TAM therapy. The molecular mechanisms underlying TAM resistance have not been well established. Recently, we reported that breast cancer patients with tumors expressing high concentrations of ER-α36, a variant of ER-α, benefited less from TAM therapy than those with low concentrations of ER-α36, suggesting that increased ER-α36 concentration is one of the underlying mechanisms of TAM resistance. Here, we investigated the function and underlying mechanism of ER-α36 in TAM resistance. We found that TAM increased ER-α36 concentrations, and TAM-resistant MCF7 cells expressed high concentrations of ER-α36. In addition, MCF7 cells with forced expression of recombinant ER-α36 and H3396 cells expressing high concentrations of endogenous ER-α36 were resistant to TAM. ER-α36 down-regulation in TAM-resistant cells with the short hairpinRNA method restored TAM sensitivity. We also found that TAM acted as a potent agonist by activating phosphorylation of the AKT kinase in ER-α36-expressing cells. Finally, we found that cells with high concentration of ER-α36 protein were hypersensitive to estrogen, activating ERK phosphorylation at picomolar range. Our results thus demonstrated that elevated ER-α36 concentration is one of the mechanisms by which ER-positive breast cancer cells escape TAM therapy and provided a rational to develop novel therapeutic approaches for TAM-resistant patients by targeting ER-α36.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1633
Author(s):  
Yu Cheon Kim ◽  
Clara Yuri Kim ◽  
Ji Hoon Oh ◽  
Myoung Hee Kim

Endocrine therapy is used to treat estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. Tamoxifen is effective against this cancer subtype. Nonetheless, approximately 30% of patients treated with tamoxifen acquire resistance, resulting in therapeutic challenges. NR4A1 plays key roles in processes associated with carcinogenesis, apoptosis, DNA repair, proliferation, and inflammation. However, the role of NR4A1 in tamoxifen-resistant ER-positive breast cancer has not yet been elucidated. Here, we propose that NR4A1 is a promising target to overcome tamoxifen resistance. NR4A1 gene expression was downregulated in tamoxifen-resistant MCF7 (TamR) cells compared to that in MCF7 cells. Kaplan-Meier plots were used to identify high NR4A1 expression correlated with increased survival rates in patients with ER-positive breast cancer following tamoxifen treatment. Gain and loss of function experiments showed that NR4A1 restores sensitivity to tamoxifen by regulating cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis. NR4A1 localized to the cytoplasm enhanced the expression of apoptotic factors. In silico and in vitro analyses revealed that NR4A1 enhanced responsiveness to tamoxifen by suppressing ERK signaling in ER-positive breast cancer, suggesting that the NR4A1/ERK signaling axis modulates tamoxifen resistance. These results indicate that NR4A1 could be a potential therapeutic target to overcome tamoxifen resistance in ER-positive breast cancer.


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