Histological and immunohistochemical study of estrogen and progesterone receptors in normal human breast tissue in adult age groups vulnerable to malignancy

Cardioprotective role of diacerein in diabetic cardiomyopathy via modulation of inflammasome/caspase1/interleukin1β pathway in juvenile rats

Diabetes mellitus is a common metabolic disorder affecting different body organs; one of its serious complications is diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). Thus, finding more cardiopreserving agents to protect the heart against such illness is a critical task. For the first time, we planned to study the suspected role of diacerein (DIA) in ameliorating DCM in juvenile rats and explore different mechanisms mediating its effect including inflammasome/caspase1/interleukin1β pathway. Four-week-aged juvenile rats were randomly divided into groups; the control group, diacerein group, diabetic group, and diabetic-treated group. Streptozotocin (45 mg/kg) single intraperitoneal (i.p.) dose was administered for induction of type 1 diabetes on the 1st day which was confirmed by detecting blood glucose level. DIA was given in a dose of 50 mg/kg/day for 6 weeks to diabetic and non-diabetic rats, then we evaluated different inflammatory, apoptotic, and oxidative stress parameters. Induction of DCM succeeded as there were significant increases in cardiac enzymes, heart weights, fasting blood glucose level (FBG), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) associated with elevated blood pressure (BP), histopathological changes, and increased caspase 3 immunoexpression. Furthermore, there was an increase of malondialdehyde (MDA), inflammasome, caspase1, angiotensin II, nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), and interleukin 1β (IL1β). However, antioxidant parameters such as reduced glutathione (GSH) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) significantly declined. Fortunately, DIA reversed the diabetic cardiomyopathy changes mostly due to the observed anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic properties with regulation of blood glucose level.DIA has an ability to regulate DCM-associated biochemical and histopathological disturbances.

Evaluation of ER, PR and HER2 markers by flow cytometry for breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Laboratory diagnosis of breast cancer (BC) is done by morphological analysis and immunohistochemistry (IHC). However, this methodology still has some limitations. The aim of this study is to validate flow cytometry (FC) immunophenotyping to investigate diagnostic and prognostic markers of BC.

METHODS

Tumor samples from surgical specimens of patients previously diagnosed with BC, were first sliced and then macerated together with PBS. Then, sample was filtered and the single cell suspension obtained was labeled with antibodies against estrogen (ERα), progesterone (PR) and HER2 receptors and CD45. The results were compared, in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV), with reference methods.

RESULTS

Results obtained comparing FC with reference methods were: ERα detection (sensitivity: 75%; specificity: 90%; PPV: 96.7%; NPV: 47.4%); PR detection (sensitivity: 72%; specificity: 70%; PPV: 79.3%; NPV: 60.8%); HER2 detection (sensitivity: 80%; specificity: 90.2%; PPV: 66.7%; NPV: 94.9%).

CONCLUSION

The results obtained show the capacity of this methodology on BC markers differentiation. FC, together with morphological analysis and IHC can overcome individual limitations of each methodology and provide reliable results on a faster and efficient manner, resulting in improvements on BC diagnosis and prognosis.

Role of Melatonin in Breast Carcinoma: Correlation of Expression Patterns of Melatonin-1 Receptor With Estrogen, Progesterone, and HER2 Receptors

Breast carcinoma is a multifaceted-etiology malignancy. The presence of estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), and HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) receptors in breast carcinoma tissue has therapeutic implications. Recent studies indicate that pineal hormone melatonin by its receptor melatonin 1 (MT1) also influences the development and growth of breast cancer cells. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to elucidate the expression pattern of MT1 receptor in relation to estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors in breast carcinoma. Two groups (receptor positive and triple negative) of breast carcinoma were taken. For comparison, normal mammary tissue was used as control. Immunohistochemistry was carried out using anti-melatonin receptor 1A antibody. Membranous/cytoplasmic expression was seen more than the nuclear expression in the cancerous tissue. Positive correlation of the MT1 expression was seen with ER, PR, and HER 2 receptor. Higher MT1 receptor expression was seen in the receptor-positive cases in comparison with triple-negative cases, which might signify melatonin deficiency in the former, leading to reactive increase in cell receptors. No correlation of MT1 expression with Ki67 index or lymph node status in both receptor-positive and triple-negative cases was found. Normal mammary tissue mainly showed cytoplasmic MT1 immunoreactivity of epithelial cells (ducts and acini), myoepithelial cells, and lining epithelium of blood vessels. Receptor-positive cases would, therefore, benefit from the use of melatonin as supporting therapy. This indicates that melatonin receptor status can be used as an independent pathologic indicator to evaluate breast carcinoma tissue, and melatonin receptor status may help to determine treatment protocols.

Inter-Individual Variation in Response to Estrogen in Human Breast Explants

Exposure to estrogen is strongly associated with increased breast cancer risk. While all women are exposed to estrogen, only 12% are expected to develop breast cancer during their lifetime. These women may be more sensitive to estrogen, as rodent models have demonstrated variability in estrogen sensitivity. Our objective was to determine individual variation in expression of estrogen receptor (ER) and estrogen-induced responses in the normal human breast. Human breast tissue from female donors undergoing reduction mammoplasty surgery were collected for microarray analysis of ER expression. To examine estrogen-induced responses, breast tissue from 23 female donors were cultured ex- vivo in basal or 10 nM 17β-estradiol (E2) media for 4 days. Expression of ER genes (ESR1 and ESR2) increased significantly with age. E2 induced consistent increases in global gene transcription, but expression of target genes AREG, PGR, and TGFβ2 increased significantly only in explants from nulliparous women. E2-treatment did not induce consistent changes in proliferation or radiation induced apoptosis. Responses to estrogen are highly variable among women and not associated with levels of ER expression, suggesting differences in intracellular signaling among individuals. The differences in sensitivity to E2-stimulated responses may contribute to variation in risk of breast cancer.

Exogenous ERα Expression in the Mammary Epithelium Decreases Over Time and Does Not Contribute to p53-Deficient Mammary Tumor Formation in Mice

Approximately 75% of all breast cancers express the nuclear hormone receptor estrogen receptor α (ERα). However, the majority of mammary tumors from genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) are ERα-negative. To model ERα-positive breast cancer in mice, we exogenously introduced expression of mouse and human ERα in an existing GEMM of p53-deficient breast cancer. After initial ERα expression during mammary gland development, expression was reduced or lost in adult glands and p53-deficient mammary tumors. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-sequencing analysis of primary mouse mammary epithelial cells (MMECs) derived from these models, in which expression of the ERα constructs was induced in vitro, confirmed interaction of ERα with the DNA. In human breast and endometrial cancer, and also in healthy breast tissue, DNA binding of ERα is facilitated by the pioneer factor FOXA1. Surprisingly, the ERα binding sites identified in primary MMECs, but also in mouse mammary gland and uterus, showed an high enrichment of ERE motifs, but were devoid of Forkhead motifs. Furthermore, exogenous introduction of FOXA1 and GATA3 in ERα-expressing MMECs was not sufficient to promote ERα-responsiveness of these cells. Together, this suggests that species-specific differences in pioneer factor usage between mouse and human are dictated by the DNA sequence, resulting in ERα-dependencies in mice that are not FOXA1 driven. These species-specific differences in ERα-biology may limit the utility of mice for in vivo modeling of ERα-positive breast cancer.