The expression of calpain-1 and androgen receptor in breast cancer and their correlation with clinicopathological characteristics: An immunohistochemical retrospective study

Calpains, the proteases of two faces controlling the epithelial homeostasis in mammary gland

Calpain-1 and calpain-2 are calcium-dependent Cys-proteases ubiquitously expressed in mammalian tissues with a processive, rather than degradative activity. They are crucial for physiological mammary gland homeostasis as well as for breast cancer progression. A growing number of evidences indicate that their pleiotropic functions depend on the cell type, tissue and biological context where they are expressed or dysregulated. This review considers these standpoints to cover the paradoxical role of calpain-1 and -2 in the mammary tissue either, under the physiological conditions of the postlactational mammary gland regression or the pathological context of breast cancer. The role of both calpains will be examined and discussed in both conditions, followed by a brief snapshot on the present and future challenges for calpains, the two-gateway proteases towards tissue homeostasis or tumor development.

The Prognostic Values of Androgen Receptor in Breast Cancer

CONTEXT.—

Whether androgen receptor (AR) expression can predict prognosis in breast cancer is under debate.

OBJECTIVE.—

To analyze, retrospectively, the prognostic and treatment-predictive ability of AR status in breast cancer.

DESIGN.—

A total of 5765 patients diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer without distant metastasis in the adjuvant setting were analyzed. The propensity score-matching method was used to develop a new cohort of 3978 patients (1989 patients each) in which important prognostic factors were balanced.

RESULTS.—

Positive AR expression is an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival and overall survival. Estrogen receptor (ER)+ and progesterone receptor (PR)+ AR+ breast cancer patients had the longest survival, whereas ER-PR-AR- breast cancer patients had the shortest survival. The ER/PR/AR combinations could not predict the treatment effects for adjuvant trastuzumab but could be used for adjuvant chemotherapy and endocrine therapy selection. The worst survival was found in ER+PR-AR- patients receiving toremifene, ER+PR-AR+ patients receiving exemestane, ER+PR+AR- patients receiving anthracycline, and ER-PR-AR+ patients receiving taxanes. ER+PR-AR-, ER-PR-AR+, and ER-PR-AR- patients were associated with the worst survival among those who received radiotherapy and anthracycline plus taxanes.

CONCLUSIONS.—

AR in combination with ER and PR could predict the prognosis and treatment effects of chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and radiotherapy in the adjuvant setting.

Proteomic analysis of the effect of hemin in breast cancer

Heme, an iron-containing prosthetic group found in many proteins, carries out diverse biological functions such as electron transfer, oxygen storage and enzymatic reactions. Hemin, the oxidised form of heme, is used to treat porphyria and also to activate heme-oxygenase (HO) which catalyses the rate-limiting step in heme degradation. Our group has previously demonstrated that hemin displays antitumor activity in breast cancer (BC). The aim of this work has been to study the effect of hemin on protein expression modifications in a BC cell line to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms of hemin antitumor activity. For this purpose, we carried out proteome analysis by Mass Spectrometry (MS) which showed that 1309 proteins were significantly increased in hemin-treated cells, including HO-1 and the proteases that regulate HO-1 function, and 921 proteins were significantly decreased. Furthermore, the MS-data analysis showed that hemin regulates the expression of heme- and iron-related proteins, adhesion and cytoskeletal proteins, cancer signal transduction proteins and enzymes involved in lipid metabolism. By biochemical and cellular studies, we further corroborated the most relevant in-silico results. Altogether, these results show the multiple physiological effects that hemin treatment displays in BC and demonstrate its potential as anticancer agent.

Identification of Autophagy-Related Targets of Berberine against Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Their Correlation with Immune Cell Infiltration By Combining Network Pharmacology, Molecular Docking, and Experimental Verification

OBJECTIVE

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common lung cancer type with high incidence. This study aimed to reveal the anti-NSCLC mechanisms of berberine and identify novel therapeutic targets.

METHODS

Berberine-related targets were acquired from SuperPred, SwissTargetPrediction, and GeneCards. NSCLC-re-lated targets were collected from GeneCards and DisGeNET. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified GEO database, UCSC Xena, and limma. GO and KEGG analyses were performed using clusterProfiler. Autophagy-related genes and transcriptional factors were collected from HADb and KnockTF, respectively. STRING and Cytoscape were used for PPI network analysis. Immune cell infiltration in NSCLC was assessed using CIBERSORT, and its correlation with autophagy-related targets was evaluated. Molecular docking was conducted using PyMOL and AutoDock. qRT-PCR and CCK-8 assay was used for in vitro verification.

RESULTS

Thirty intersecting targets of berberine-related targets, NSCLC-related targets, and DEGs were obtained. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that the intersecting targets were mainly implicated in oxidative stress, focal adhesion, and cell-substrate junction, as well as AGE-RAGE, relaxin, FoxO, and estrogen signaling pathways. Significantly, CAPN1, IKBKB, and SIRT2 were identified as the foremost autophagy-related targets, and 21 corresponding transcriptional factors were obtained. PPI network analysis showed that CAPN1, IKBKB, and SIRT2 interacted with 50 other genes. Fifty immune cell types, such as B cells naive, T cells CD8, T cells CD4 naive, T cells follicular helper, and monocytes, were implicated in NSCLC pathogenesis, and CAPN1, IKBKB, and SIRT2 were related to immune cells. Molecular docking revealed the favorable binding activity of berberine with CAPN1, IKBKB, and SIRT2. In vitro assays showed lower CAPN1, IKBKB, and SIRT2 expression in NSCLC cells than that in normal cells. Notably, berberine inhibited the viability and elevated CAPN1, IKBKB, and SIRT2 expression in NSCLC cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Berberine might treat NSCLC mainly by targeting CAPN1, IKBKB, and SIRT2.

Prognostic Role of Androgen Receptor Expression in HER2+ Breast Carcinoma Subtypes

HER2+ breast cancer (BC) is an aggressive subtype representing a genetically and biologically heterogeneous group of tumors resulting in variable prognosis and treatment response to HER2-targeted therapies according to estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression. The relationship with androgen receptors (AR), a member of the steroid hormone’s family, is unwell known in BC. The present study aims to evaluate the prognostic impact of AR expression in HER2+ BC subtypes. A total of 695 BCs were selected and reviewed, AR, ER, PR and HER2 expression in tumor cells were examined by immunohistochemical method, and the SISH method was used in case of HER2 with equivocal immunohistochemical score (2+). A high prevalence of AR expression (91.5%) in BC HER+ was observed, with minimal differences between luminal and non-luminal tumor. According to steroid receptor expression, tumors were classified in four subgroups, including BC luminal and non-luminal HER2+ expressing or not AR. The luminal BC HER2 + AR+ was associated with lower histological grade, lower tumor size, higher PR expression and lower HER2 intensity of expression (2+). Also, the non-luminal tumors AR+ showed lower tumor size and lower prognostic stage but frequently higher grade and higher HER2 intensity of expression (3+). These findings should suggest a different progression of luminal and non-luminal tumors, both expressing AR, and allow us to speculate that the molecular mechanisms of AR, involved in the biology of BC HER2 + AR+, differ in relation to ER and PR expression. Moreover, AR expression may be a useful predictor of prognosis for overall survival (OS) in HER2+ BC subtypes. Our findings suggest that AR expression evaluation in clinical practice could be utilized in clinical oncology to establish different aggressiveness in BC HER2+ subtypes.