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Holowatyj AN, Gigic B, Warby CA, Ose J, Lin T, Schrotz-King P, Ulrich CM, Bernard JJ. The Use of Human Serum Samples to Study Malignant Transformation: A Pilot Study. Cells 2021; 10:2670. [PMID: 34685650 PMCID: PMC8534413 DOI: 10.3390/cells10102670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Obesity and excess adiposity account for approximately 20% of all cancer cases; however, biomarkers of risk remain to be elucidated. While fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) is emerging as an attractive candidate biomarker for visceral adipose tissue mass, the role of circulating FGF2 in malignant transformation remains unknown. Moreover, functional assays for biomarker discovery are limited. We sought to determine if human serum could stimulate the 3D growth of a non-tumorigenic cell line. This type of anchorage-independent 3D growth in soft agar is a surrogate marker for acquired tumorigenicity of cell lines. We found that human serum from cancer-free men and women has the potential to stimulate growth in soft agar of non-tumorigenic epithelial JB6 P+ cells. We examined circulating levels of FGF2 in humans in malignant transformation in vitro in a pilot study of n = 33 men and women. Serum FGF2 levels were not associated with colony formation in epithelial cells (r = 0.05, p = 0.80); however, a fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 (FGFR1) selective inhibitor significantly blocked serum-stimulated transformation, suggesting that FGF2 activation of FGFR1 may be necessary, but not sufficient for the transforming effects of human serum. This pilot study indicates that the FGF2/FGFR1 axis plays a role in JB6 P+ malignant transformation and describes an assay to determine critical serum factors that have the potential to promote tumorigenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreana N. Holowatyj
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; (C.A.W.); (J.O.); (T.L.); (C.M.U.)
- Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Biljana Gigic
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
| | - Christy A. Warby
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; (C.A.W.); (J.O.); (T.L.); (C.M.U.)
- Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Jennifer Ose
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; (C.A.W.); (J.O.); (T.L.); (C.M.U.)
- Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Tengda Lin
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; (C.A.W.); (J.O.); (T.L.); (C.M.U.)
- Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Petra Schrotz-King
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Cornelia M. Ulrich
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; (C.A.W.); (J.O.); (T.L.); (C.M.U.)
- Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Jamie J. Bernard
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA
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Boothby-Shoemaker W, Benham V, Paithankar S, Shankar R, Chen B, Bernard JJ. The Relationship between Leptin, the Leptin Receptor and FGFR1 in Primary Human Breast Tumors. Cells 2020; 9:E2224. [PMID: 33019728 PMCID: PMC7600295 DOI: 10.3390/cells9102224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Revised: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Obesity is associated with increased breast cancer risk and poorer cancer outcomes; however, the precise etiology of these observations has not been fully identified. Our previous research suggests that adipose tissue-derived fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) promotes the malignant transformation of epithelial cells through the activation of fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 (FGFR1). FGF2 is increased in the context of obesity, and increased sera levels have been associated with endocrine-resistant breast cancer. Leptin is a marker of obesity and promotes breast carcinogenesis through several mechanisms. In this study, we leverage public gene expression datasets to evaluate the associations between FGFR1, leptin, and the leptin receptor (LepR) in breast cancer. We show a positive association between FGFR1 and leptin protein copy number in primary breast tumors. These observations coincided with a positive association between Janus kinase 2 (Jak2) mRNA with both leptin receptor (LepR) mRNA and FGFR1 mRNA. Moreover, two separate Jak2 inhibitors attenuated both leptin+FGF2-stimulated and mouse adipose tissue-stimulated MCF-10A transformation. These results demonstrate how elevated sera FGF2 and leptin in obese patients may promote cancer progression in tumors that express elevated FGFR1 and LepR through Jak2 signaling. Therefore, Jak2 is a potential therapeutic target for FGFR1 amplified breast cancer, especially in the context of obesity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wyatt Boothby-Shoemaker
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; (W.B.-S.); (V.B.); (B.C.)
| | - Vanessa Benham
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; (W.B.-S.); (V.B.); (B.C.)
| | - Shreya Paithankar
- Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; (S.P.); (R.S.)
| | - Rama Shankar
- Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; (S.P.); (R.S.)
| | - Bin Chen
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; (W.B.-S.); (V.B.); (B.C.)
- Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; (S.P.); (R.S.)
| | - Jamie J. Bernard
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; (W.B.-S.); (V.B.); (B.C.)
- Nicolas V. Perricone Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
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Identifying chemopreventive agents for obesity-associated cancers using an efficient, 3D high-throughput transformation assay. Sci Rep 2019; 9:10278. [PMID: 31311976 PMCID: PMC6635484 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-46531-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Obesity is associated with ~40% of cancer diagnoses but there are currently no effective preventive strategies, illustrating a need for chemoprevention. We previously demonstrated that fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) from adipose tissue stimulates malignant transformation, as measured by growth in soft agar, the gold-standard in vitro transformation assay. Because the soft agar assay is unsuitable for high throughput screens (HTS), we developed a novel method using 3D growth in ultra-low attachment conditions as an alternative to growth in agar to discover compounds that inhibit transformation. Treating non-tumorigenic, skin epithelial JB6 P+ cells with FGF2 stimulates growth in ultra-low attachment conditions analogous to growth in the soft agar. This transformation HTS identified picropodophyllin, an insulin growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) inhibitor, and fluvastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, as potential chemopreventive agents. These compounds were validated for efficacy using two non-tumorigenic cell lines in soft agar. Another IGF1R inhibitor and other statins were also tested and several were able to inhibit growth in soft agar. This novel 3D HTS platform is fast, robust and has the potential to identify agents for obesity-associated cancer prevention.
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