scholarly journals In Vitro Modeling of Reoxygenation Effects on mRNA and Protein Levels in Hypoxic Tumor Cells upon Entry into the Bloodstream

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Bartkowiak ◽  
Claudia Koch ◽  
Sebastian Gärtner ◽  
Antje Andreas ◽  
Tobias M Gorges ◽  
...  

Background: Solid epithelial tumors like breast cancer are the most frequent malignancy in women. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are frequently released from hypoxic areas into the blood, where CTCs face elevated oxygen concentrations. This reoxygenation might challenge the use of CTCs for liquid biopsy. Methods: We modeled this situation in vitro using the breast cancer cell lines—MCF-7, MDA-MB-468, MDA-MB-231—and the cell line BC-M1 established from DTCs in the bone marrow. Cells were cultured under hypoxia, followed by a reoxygenation pulse for 4 h, reflecting the circulation time of CTCs. Analyzed were gene products like EGFR, ErbB-2, EpCAM, PD-L1 on mRNA and protein level. Results: mRNAs of erbb2 or pdl1 and protein levels of PD-L1 displayed significant changes, whereas ErbB-2 protein levels remained constant. The strongest discrepancy between protein and mRNA levels under hypoxia was observed for EGFR, supporting the idea of cap-independent translation of egfr mRNA. Analyses of the phosphorylation of AKT, Erk 1/2, and Stat3 revealed strong alterations after reoxygenation. Conclusions: CTCs reaching secondary sites faster than reoxygenation could alter the mRNA and protein levels in the cells. CTC and DTC with high PD-L1 levels might become quiescent under hypoxia but were easily reactivated by reoxygenation.

Author(s):  
Muhammad Luqman Nordin ◽  
Arifah Abdul Kadir ◽  
Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria ◽  
Rasedee Abdullah ◽  
Muhammad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1295-1303
Author(s):  
Guangheng Liu ◽  
Xiangfeng Yang ◽  
Qiming Niu ◽  
Wenkui Sun

ABSTRACTA new type of difolate targeting nano-level ultrasound contrast agent ((folate molecule, FOL)2-TUAs) was prepared, so as to investigate its targeted binding effect with human breast cancer mammary carcinoma cells (MCF-7) in vitro. L-2-aminoadipic acid (L-2-AD) as a branch unit was inserted at the hydroxyl end of distearoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (DISP)-PEG2000-COOH to construct a tree structure. At this time, the free hydroxyl group in the distearoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (DISP)-PEG2000-COOH structure modified the FOL with the help of N-Hydroxysuccinimide/N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (NHS/DCC). Each 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000] (DISP-PEG2000) connected two FOLs to generate difolate targeted nanomaterials. Nano laser particle size (PS) and Zeta potential analyzer (ZPA) were applied to analyze the physical characteristics of the material such as PS and dispersion, and the enhanced development effect in vitro was detected by the ultrasonic diagnostic instrument. Besides, the targeted binding ability of the contrast agent based on this material to folate receptor (FR) overexpressing MCF-7 cells was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) and fluorescence microscope. In the experiment, hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) demonstrated that (FOL)2-TUAs was successfully synthesized. The surface of this material was round and uniformly distributed without aggregation. According to the relative number of FOL molecules, non-targeted nano-agent (U-TUA), monofolate targeted nano-agent (FOL-TUA), and difolate targeted nano-agent ((FOL)2-TUA) were obtained. The in vitro imaging showed that different materials exhibited enhanced imaging effects in ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. FCM and fluorescence microscopy both indicated that the difolate TUA could achieve a good binding to MCF-7 cells. Most of the nano-agents were attached to the cell membrane, surrounded by red fluorophore, namely increasing the FOL content of DISP-PEG2000 chain could enhance the targeted binding ability of tumor cells.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (18) ◽  
pp. 4332
Author(s):  
Nurul Izzati Zulkifli ◽  
Musthahimah Muhamad ◽  
Nur Nadhirah Mohamad Zain ◽  
Wen-Nee Tan ◽  
Noorfatimah Yahaya ◽  
...  

A bottom-up approach for synthesizing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs-GA) phytomediated by Garcinia atroviridis leaf extract is described. Under optimized conditions, the AgNPs-GA were synthesized at a concentration of 0.1 M silver salt and 10% (w/v) leaf extract, 1:4 mixing ratio of reactants, pH 3, temperature 32 °C and 72 h reaction time. The AgNPs-GA were characterized by various analytical techniques and their size was determined to be 5–30 nm. FTIR spectroscopy indicates the role of phenolic functional groups in the reduction of silver ions into AgNPs-GA and in supporting their subsequent stability. The UV-Visible spectrum showed an absorption peak at 450 nm which reflects the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of AgNPs-GA and further supports the stability of these biosynthesized nanoparticles. SEM, TEM and XRD diffractogram analyses indicate that AgNPs-GA were spherical and face-centered-cubic in shape. This study also describes the efficacy of biosynthesized AgNPs-GA as anti-proliferative agent against human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MCF-7/TAMR-1. Our findings indicate that AgNPs-GA possess significant anti-proliferative effects against both the MCF-7 and MCF-7/TAMR-1 cell lines, with inhibitory concentration at 50% (IC50 values) of 2.0 and 34.0 µg/mL, respectively, after 72 h of treatment. An induction of apoptosis was evidenced by flow cytometry using Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide staining. Therefore, AgNPs-GA exhibited its anti-proliferative activity via apoptosis on MCF-7 and MCF-7/TAMR-1 breast cancer cells in vitro. Taken together, the leaf extract from Garcinia atroviridis was found to be highly capable of producing AgNPs-GA with favourable physicochemical and biological properties.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 9139
Author(s):  
Maria Stefania Sinicropi ◽  
Cinzia Tavani ◽  
Camillo Rosano ◽  
Jessica Ceramella ◽  
Domenico Iacopetta ◽  
...  

Breast cancer is still considered a high-incidence disease, and numerous are the research efforts for the development of new useful and effective therapies. Among anticancer drugs, carbazole compounds are largely studied for their anticancer properties and their ability to interfere with specific targets, such as microtubule components. The latter are involved in vital cellular functions, and the perturbation of their dynamics leads to cell cycle arrest and subsequent apoptosis. In this context, we report the anticancer activity of a series of carbazole analogues 1–8. Among them, 2-nitrocarbazole 1 exhibited the best cytotoxic profile, showing good anticancer activity against two breast cancer cell lines, namely MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, with IC50 values of 7 ± 1.0 and 11.6 ± 0.8 μM, respectively. Furthermore, compound 1 did not interfere with the growth of the normal cell line MCF-10A, contrarily to Ellipticine, a well-known carbazole derivative used as a reference molecule. Finally, in vitro immunofluorescence analysis and in silico studies allowed us to demonstrate the ability of compound 1 to interfere with tubulin organization, similarly to vinblastine: a feature that results in triggering MCF-7 cell death by apoptosis, as demonstrated using a TUNEL assay.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Shengxian Zhao ◽  
Yin Cao ◽  
Zhenzhen Cui ◽  
Jiayun Zhang ◽  
Zhixiang Pan ◽  
...  

A series of 2-arylidene-N-(quinolin-6-yl)hydrazine-1-carboxamides 5a–5o were synthesized and characterized. The synthesized compounds (5a–5o) were screened in vitro against three breast cancer cell lines: SKBR3, MDA-MB-231, and MCF-7 cancer cell lines by the MTT assay. According to MTT results, compounds 5k and 5l showed better antiproliferative activities over MCF-7 cell lines with IC50 values of 8.50 and 12.51 μM. Colony formation assay indicated 5k/5l treatment obviously inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cells and 5k/5l-induced cell cycle was arrested in the G2-M phase. Moreover, 5k/5l significantly increased the level of cleaved PARP and induced the apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. In addition, compared to Hela cells, MCF-7 cells were more sensitive to 5k/5l treatment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thandi Mqoco ◽  
André Stander ◽  
Anna-Mart Engelbrecht ◽  
Anna M Joubert

Current chemotherapeutic agents have many side effects and are toxic to normal cells, providing impetus to identify agents that can effectively eliminate tumorigenic cells without damaging healthy cells. The aim of this study was to examine whether combining a novel BRD4 inhibitor, ITH-47, with the antimitotic estradiol analogue, ESE-15-ol, would have a synergistic effect on inhibiting the growth of two different breast cancer cell lines in vitro. Our docking and molecular dynamics studies showed that compared to JQ1, ITH-47 showed a similar binding mode with hydrogen bonds forming between the ligand nitrogens of the pyrazole, ASN99, and water of the BRD4 protein. Data from cell growth studies revealed that the GI50 of ITH-47 and ESE-15-ol after 48 hours of exposure was determined to be 15 μM and 70 nM, respectively, in metastatic MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. In tumorigenic MCF-7 breast cancer cells, the GI50 of ITH-47 and ESE-15-ol was 75 μM and 60 nM, respectively, after 48 hours of exposure. Furthermore, the combination of 7.5 μM and 14 nM of ITH-47 and ESE-15-ol, respectively, resulted in 50% growth inhibition of MDA-MB-231 cells resulting in a synergistic combination index (CI) of 0.7. Flow cytometry studies revealed that, compared to the control, combination-treated MDA-MB-231 cells had significantly more cells present in the sub-G1 phase and the combination treatment induced apoptosis in the MDA-MB-231 cells. Compared to vehicle-treated cells, the combination-treated cells showed decreased levels of the BRD4, as well as c-Myc protein after 48 hours of exposure. In combination, the selective BRD4 inhibitor, ITH-47, and ESE-15-ol synergistically inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, but not of the MCF-7 cell line. This study provides evidence that resistance to BRD4 inhibitors may be overcome by combining inhibitors with other compounds, which may have treatment potential for hormone-independent breast cancers.


2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (19) ◽  
pp. 6887-6900 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Christine Pratt ◽  
Tanya E. Bishop ◽  
Dawn White ◽  
Gordon Yasvinski ◽  
Michel Ménard ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT About one-third of breast cancers express a functional estrogen (β-estradiol [E2]) receptor (ER) and are initially dependent on E2 for growth and survival but eventually progress to hormone independence. We show here that ER+, E2-independent MCF-7/LCC1 cells derived from E2-dependent MCF-7 cells contain elevated basal NF-κB activity and elevated expression of the transcriptional coactivator Bcl-3 compared with the parental MCF-7 line. LCC1 NF-κB activity consists primarily of p50 dimers, although low levels of a p65/p50 complex are also present. The ER− breast cancer cell lines harbor abundant levels of both NF-κB complexes. In contrast, nuclear extracts from MCF-7 cells contain a significantly lower level of p50 and p65 than do LCC1 cells. Estrogen withdrawal increases both NF-κB DNA binding activity and expression of Bcl-3 in MCF-7 and LCC1 cells in vitro and in vivo. Tumors derived from MCF-7 cells ectopically expressing Bcl-3 remain E2 dependent but display a markedly higher tumor establishment and growth rate compared to controls. Expression of a stable form of IκBα in LCC1 cells severely reduced nuclear expression of p65 and the p65/p50 DNA binding heterodimer. Whereas LCC1 tumors in nude mice were stable or grew, LCC1(IκBα) tumors regressed after E2 withdrawal. Thus, both p50/Bcl-3- and p65/p50-associated NF-κB activities are activated early in progression and serve differential roles in growth and hormone independence, respectively. We propose that E2 withdrawal may initiate selection for hormone independence in breast cancer cells by activation of NF-κB and Bcl-3, which could then supplant E2 by providing both survival and growth signals.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document