Stimulation of human breast carcinoma cell invasiveness and urokinase plasminogen activator activity by glucose deprivation

Arctigenin: pharmacology, total synthesis, and progress in structure modification

Arctium lappa L. is a prevalent medicinal herb and a health supplement that is commonly used in Asia. Over the last few decades, the bioactive component arctigenin has attracted the attention of researchers because of its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, multiple sclerosis fighting, antitumor, and anti-leukemia properties. After summarising the research and literature on arctigenin, this study outlines the current status of research on pharmacological activity, total synthesis, and structural modification of arctigenin. The purpose of this study is to assist academics in obtaining a more comprehensive understanding of the research progress on arctigenin and to provide constructive suggestions for further investigation of this useful molecule.

Microarray analysis of breast cancer gene expression profiling in response to 2-deoxyglucose, metformin, and glucose starvation

Background

Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. Altering glucose metabolism and its effects on cancer progression and treatment resistance is an emerging interest in BC research. For instance, combining chemotherapy with glucose-lowering drugs (2-deoxyglucose (2-DG), metformin (MET)) or glucose starvation (GS) has shown better outcomes than with chemotherapy alone. However, the genes and molecular mechanisms that govern the action of these glucose deprivation conditions have not been fully elucidated. Here, we investigated the differentially expressed genes in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 BC cell lines upon treatment with glucose-lowering drugs (2-DG, MET) and GS using microarray analysis to study the difference in biological functions between the glucose challenges and their effect on the vulnerability of BC cells.

Methods

MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells were treated with 20 mM MET or 4 mM 2-DG for 48 h. GS was performed by gradually decreasing the glucose concentration in the culture medium to 0 g/L, in which the cells remained with fetal bovine serum for one week. Expression profiling was carried out using Affymetrix Human Clariom S microarrays. Differentially expressed genes were obtained from the Transcriptome Analysis Console and enriched using DAVID and R packages.

Results

Our results showed that MDA-MB-231 cells were more responsive to glucose deprivation than MCF-7 cells. Endoplasmic reticulum stress response and cell cycle inhibition were detected after all three glucose deprivations in MDA-MB-231 cells and only under the metformin and GS conditions in MCF-7 cells. Induction of apoptosis and inhibition of DNA replication were observed with all three treatments in MDA-MB-231 cells and metformin-treated MCF-7 cells. Upregulation of cellular response to reactive oxygen species and inhibition of DNA repair mechanisms resulted after metformin and GS administration in MDA-MB-231 cell lines and metformin-treated MCF-7 cells. Autophagy was induced after 2-DG treatment in MDA-MB-231 cells and after metformin in MCF-7 cells. Finally, inhibition of DNA methylation were observed only with GS in MDA-MB-231 cells.

Conclusion

The procedure used to process cancer cells and analyze their expression data distinguishes our study from others. GS had the greatest effect on breast cancer cells compared to 2-DG and MET. Combining MET and GS could restrain both cell lines, making them more vulnerable to conventional chemotherapy.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-022-02542-w.

Screening of trace elements in hair of the female population with different types of cancers in Wielkopolska region of Poland

Background. Cancer constitutes a major health problem worldwide. Thus, search for reliable and practical markers of the disease process remains the key issue of the diagnostic process. Objectives. The study aims at linking the trace element status of an organism, assessed by hair analysis, with the occurrence of cancer diseases. Material and Methods. Hair samples were collected from 299 patients with cancer diseases confirmed by a histopathological test and from 100 controls. Cancer patients were divided into three groups, depending on cancer type: hormone-dependent cancer, cancer of the alimentary tract, and cancer with high glycolytic activity. Mineral element analysis of hair was performed using an atomic emission spectrophotometer with inductively coupled plasma (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results. Statistically significantly lower concentrations of selenium, zinc, copper, germanium and boron, iron, and magnesium were observed in the three groups of cancer patients. Disturbance in the axis glucose-insulin and changes in concentrations of heavy metals and toxic elements were also noted. Conclusions. It seems safe to conclude that our results confirmed usefulness of hair element analysis in screening tests for the assessment of the biomarker of various cancer diseases in a female population.

Enhanced cell-associated plasminogen activator pathway but not coagulation pathway activity contributes to motility in metastatic breast cancer cells

BACKGROUND

Activation of tumor cell-associated coagulation and plasminogen activator pathways occurs in malignant disease processes, including breast cancer, and may promote metastatic activity.

OBJECTIVES/METHODS

To compare the coagulation and plasminogen activator pathways of normal and metastatic cells, we examined two cell lines from the MCF-10 family of breast cells: near-normal immortalized MCF-10A cells, and metastatic MCF-10CA1 cells.

RESULTS

MCF-10CA1 cell motility was significantly increased as compared with that of MCF-10A cells. The two cell types supported similar rates of factor Xa generation, plasma thrombin generation, and fibrin formation. MCF-10A cells produced a stable fibrin network, whereas MCF-10CA1 cells lysed the surrounding fibrin network within 24 h of network formation. Importantly, fibrin located proximal to (within 10 microm) the MCF-10CA1 cell surface lysed substantially faster than fibrin located 100 microm from the surface. MCF-10CA1 cells supported significantly increased plasmin generation rates as compared with MCF-10A cells, providing a mechanism for the increased fibrinolytic activity of these cells towards the fibrin network. Metastatic MCF-10CA1 cells had increased expression (mRNA and protein) levels of urokinase plasminogen activator (u-PA) and decreased levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 as compared with MCF-10A cells. Blocking u-PA activity with the active site-directed protease inhibitor amiloride substantially decreased MCF-10CA1 cell motility. Phosphorylated Akt levels were elevated in MCF-10CA1 cells, which partially explains the increased u-PA expression.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the tumor-associated plasminogen activator pathway, not the coagulation pathway, is a key distinguishing feature between metastatic MCF10-CA1 cells and normal MCF-10A cells.

Significance of expression of metastasis-related factors uPA, MMP-2, MMP-9 and TGF-β1 in gastrointestinal stromal tumors

AIM: To investigate the significance of expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs).

METHODS: The expression of uPA, MMP-2, MMP-9 and TGF-β1 mRNAs and proteins in 124 GISTs specimens was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot, respectively.

RESULTS: In gastrointestinal stromal tumors, the mRNA expression of uPA, MMP-2, MMP-9 and TGF-β1 is closely correlated with tumor stage (NIH classification), mucosal invasion and lymphatic metastasis. The mRNA expression levels of uPA, MMP-2, MMP-9 and TGF-β1 were up-regulated with increasing tumor stage, showing significant differences among low-, moderate- and high-risk GISTs. The positive rates of uPA, MMP-2, MMP-9 and TGF-β1 mRNA expression was not correlated with age, sex and histological type. Similar results were obtained for the expression of uPA, MMP-2, MMP-9 and TGF-β1 proteins in GISTs. The expression of uPA protein is positively correlated with that of TGF-β1, MMP-2 and MMP-9 (r = 0.356, 0.323 and 0.346, respectively).

CONCLUSION: The positive activation of TGF-β1 in GISTs possibly up-regulates uPA expression which in turn activates MMP-2 and MMP-9. The activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 may lead to the degradation of extracellular matrix degradation and promote tumor invasion and metastasis.