scholarly journals Discovering novel cancer bio-markers in acquired lapatinib resistance using Bayesian methods

Author(s):  
A K M Azad ◽  
Salem A Alyami

Abstract Signalling transduction pathways (STPs) are commonly hijacked by many cancers for their growth and malignancy, but demystifying their underlying mechanisms is difficult. Here, we developed methodologies with a fully Bayesian approach in discovering novel driver bio-markers in aberrant STPs given high-throughput gene expression (GE) data. This project, namely ‘PathTurbEr’ (Pathway Perturbation Driver) uses the GE dataset derived from the lapatinib (an EGFR/HER dual inhibitor) sensitive and resistant samples from breast cancer cell lines (SKBR3). Differential expression analysis revealed 512 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and their pathway enrichment revealed 13 highly perturbed singalling pathways in lapatinib resistance, including PI3K-AKT, Chemokine, Hippo and TGF-$\beta $ singalling pathways. Next, the aberration in TGF-$\beta $ STP was modelled as a causal Bayesian network (BN) using three MCMC sampling methods, i.e. Neighbourhood sampler (NS) and Hit-and-Run (HAR) sampler that potentially yield robust inference with lower chances of getting stuck at local optima and faster convergence compared to other state-of-art methods. Next, we examined the structural features of the optimal BN as a statistical process that generates the global structure using $p_1$-model, a special class of Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs), and MCMC methods for their hyper-parameter sampling. This step enabled key drivers identification that drive the aberration within the perturbed BN structure of STP, and yielded 34, 34 and 23 perturbation driver genes out of 80 constituent genes of three perturbed STP models of TGF-$\beta $ signalling inferred by NS, HAR and MH sampling methods, respectively. Functional-relevance and disease-relevance analyses suggested their significant associations with breast cancer progression/resistance.

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1987
Author(s):  
Eleni Mavrogonatou ◽  
Adamantia Papadopoulou ◽  
Asimina Fotopoulou ◽  
Stathis Tsimelis ◽  
Heba Bassiony ◽  
...  

Down-regulation of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan decorin in the stroma is considered a poor prognostic factor for breast cancer progression. Ionizing radiation, an established treatment for breast cancer, provokes the premature senescence of the adjacent to the tumor stromal fibroblasts. Here, we showed that senescent human breast stromal fibroblasts are characterized by the down-regulation of decorin at the mRNA and protein level, as well as by its decreased deposition in the pericellular extracellular matrix in vitro. Senescence-associated decorin down-regulation is a long-lasting process rather than an immediate response to γ-irradiation. Growth factors were demonstrated to participate in an autocrine manner in decorin down-regulation, with bFGF and VEGF being the critical mediators of the phenomenon. Autophagy inhibition by chloroquine reduced decorin mRNA levels, while autophagy activation using the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin enhanced decorin transcription. Interestingly, the secretome from a series of both untreated and irradiated human breast cancer cell lines with different molecular profiles inhibited decorin expression in young and senescent stromal fibroblasts, which was annulled by SU5402, a bFGF and VEGF inhibitor. The novel phenotypic trait of senescent human breast stromal fibroblasts revealed here is added to their already described cancer-promoting role via the formation of a tumor-permissive environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 6768
Author(s):  
Afsaneh Malekzadeh Shafaroudi ◽  
Ali Sharifi-Zarchi ◽  
Saeid Rahmani ◽  
Nahid Nafissi ◽  
Seyed Javad Mowla ◽  
...  

miR-29b2 and miR-29c play a suppressive role in breast cancer progression. C1orf132 (also named MIR29B2CHG) is the host gene for generating both microRNAs. However, the region also expresses longer transcripts with unknown functions. We employed bioinformatics and experimental approaches to decipher C1orf132 expression and function in breast cancer tissues. We also used the CRISPR/Cas9 technique to excise a predicted C1orf132 distal promoter and followed the behavior of the edited cells by real-time PCR, flow cytometry, migration assay, and RNA-seq techniques. We observed that C1orf132 long transcript is significantly downregulated in triple-negative breast cancer. We also identified a promoter for the longer transcripts of C1orf132 whose functionality was demonstrated by transfecting MCF7 cells with a C1orf132 promoter-GFP construct. Knocking-out the promoter by means of CRISPR/Cas9 revealed no alterations in the expression of the neighboring genes CD46 and CD34, while the expression of miR-29c was reduced by half. Furthermore, the promoter knockout elevated the migration ability of the edited cells. RNA sequencing revealed many up- and downregulated genes involved in various cellular pathways, including epithelial to mesenchymal transition and mammary gland development pathways. Altogether, we are reporting here the existence of an additional/distal promoter with an enhancer effect on miR-29 generation and an inhibitory effect on cell migration.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriane Feijo Evangelista ◽  
Renato J Oliveira ◽  
Viviane A O Silva ◽  
Rene A D C Vieira ◽  
Rui M Reis ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy among women. However, the role of microRNA expression in breast cancer progression is not fully understood. In this study we examined predictive interactions between differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs in breast cancer cell lines representative of the common molecular subtypes. Integrative bioinformatics analysis identified miR-193 and miR-210 as potential regulatory biomarkers of mRNA in breast cancer. Several recent studies have investigated these miRNAs in a broad range of tumors, but the mechanism of their involvement in cancer progression has not previously been investigated. Methods: The miRNA-mRNA interactions in breast cancer cell lines were identified by parallel expression analysis and miRNA target prediction programs. The expression profiles of mRNA and miRNAs from luminal (MCF-7, MCF-7/AZ and T47D), HER2 (BT20 and SK-BR3) and triple negative subtypes (Hs578T e MDA-MB-231) could be clearly separated by unsupervised analysis using HB4A cell line as a control. Breast cancer miRNA data from TCGA patients were grouped according to molecular subtypes and then used to validate these findings. Expression of miR-193 and miR-210 was investigated by miRNA transient silencing assays using the MCF7, BT20 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Functional studies included, xCELLigence system, ApoTox-Glo triplex, flow cytometry and transwell assays were performed to determine cell proliferation, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, migration and invasion, respectively. Results: The most evident effects were associated with cell proliferation after miR-210 silencing in triple negative subtype cell line MDA-MB-231. Using in silico prediction algorithms, TNFRSF10 was identified as one of the potential downstream targets for both miRNAs. The TNFRSF10C and TNFRSF10D mRNA expression inversely correlated with the expression levels of miR-193 and miR210 in breast cell lines and breast cancer patients, respectively. Other potential regulated genes whose expression also inversely correlated with both miRNAs were CCND1, a mediator on invasion and metastasis, and the tumor suppressor gene RUNX3. Conclusion: In summary, our findings identify miR-193 and miR-210 as potential regulatory miRNA in different molecular subtypes of breast cancer and suggest that miR-210 may have specific role in MDA-MB-231 proliferation. Our results highlight important new downstream regulated targets that may serve as promising therapeutic pathways for aggressive breast cancers.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e11579-e11579
Author(s):  
Guillaume Mouillet ◽  
Loic Chaigneau ◽  
Thierry Michy ◽  
Cristian Villanueva ◽  
Fernando Bazan ◽  
...  

e11579 Background: Clusterin (CLU) is a glycoprotein expressed constitutively in many tissues and involved in various physiopathological processes. Despite CLU expression is dysregulated in many types of cancer, the specific role of CLU in tumorigenesis remains unclear. The identification of several forms of the protein, with multiple roles is an explanation for these conflicting results. Cytoplasmic CLU (cCLU) has a role in breast tumorigenesis, cancer progression and is associated with breast cancer cell lines death in vitro. However contradictory data are reported about prognostic value of cCLU on survival and clinical progression. Our objective was to estimate patient’s overall survival (OS) according to the expression of cCLU. Methods: Histological and clinical data of 158 patients diagnosed with breast cancer were retrospectively recorded. Every patients were treated in a single French university hospital between 1993 and 2001. Histological samples had been reviewed to determine hormonal status, HER2 and clusterin expression. Immunohistochemical techniques were based on standards and recommendations applied at the time of analysis. Tumors were defined as cCLU positive (cCLU +) if its expression was superior to 10%. Overall Survival rates along with standard deviations were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Differences in OS according to cCLU expression were tested for significance using the log-rank test. Results: Patients had a median age of 56 years (31 – 82 years). Among the 158 patients analyzed, cCLU was overexpressed in 31 patients (19.62%). The histopathologic and clinical characteristics were not statistically different according to clusterin expression even if a trend favouring less favourable tumoural characteristics were observed in cCLU positive tumour. The median follow-up was 14.1 years (11.3 - 19.3). In univariate analysis, cCLU overexpession were not related to OS (HR = 0.86; CI95%: 0.43 - 1.70). Ten-year OS was 76% (± 4) among patients with cCLU - tumors vs 77% (± 7) in patients with cCLU + tumor (p = 0.66). Conclusions: cCLU expression does not seem to be a pronostic factor of overall survival.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. BCBCR.S40182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeison Garcia ◽  
Fernando Lizcano

The Jumonji-containing domain protein, KDM4C, is a histone demethylase associated with the development of several forms of human cancer. However, its specific function in the viability of tumoral lineages is yet to be determined. This work investigates the importance of KDM4C activity in cell proliferation and chromosome segregation of three triple-negative breast cancer cell lines using a specific demethylase inhibitor. Immunofluorescence assays show that KDM4C is recruited to mitotic chromosomes and that the modulation of its activity increases the number of mitotic segregation errors. However, 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) cell proliferation assays demonstrate that the demethylase activity is required for cell viability. These results suggest that the histone demethylase activity of KDM4C is essential for breast cancer progression given its role in the maintenance of chromosomal stability and cell growth, thus highlighting it as a potential therapeutic target.


Author(s):  
Santoshi Muppala ◽  
Roy Xiao ◽  
Jasmine Gajeton ◽  
Irene Krukovets ◽  
Dmitriy Verbovetskiy ◽  
...  

AbstractInflammation drives the growth of tumors and is an important predictor of cancer aggressiveness. CD68, a marker of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), is routinely used as a marker to aid in prognosis and treatment choices for breast cancer.We report that thrombospondin-4 (TSP-4) mediates breast cancer inflammation and growth in mouse models in response to hyperglycemia and TGF-beta by increasing TAM infiltration and production of inflammatory signals in tumors. Analysis of breast cancers and non-cancerous tissue specimens from hyperglycemic patients revealed that levels of TSP-4 and of macrophage marker CD68 are upregulated in diabetic tissues. TSP-4 was co-localized with macrophages in cancer tissues. Bone-marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) responded to high glucose and TGF-beta by upregulating TSP-4 production and expression, as well as the expression of inflammatory markers.We report a novel function for TSP-4 in breast cancer: regulation of TAM infiltration and inflammation. The results of our study provide new insights into regulation of cancer growth by hyperglycemia and TGF-beta and suggest TSP-4 as a potential therapeutic target.Novelty and ImpactThrombospondin-4 (TSP-4) is a secreted extracellular protein that belongs to the family of matricellular proteins. TSP-4 is one of the top 1% of proteins upregulated in several cancers, including breast cancer. Inflammation and infiltration of macrophages drive cancer progression and metastasis and are clinically important markers of cancer aggressiveness and critical consideration in the process of selection of the appropriate therapeutic approaches. We report that TSP-4 promotes breast cancer inflammation and infiltration of macrophages and mediates the effects of hyperglycemia and TGF-beta on cancer growth and inflammation. Our work describes a role for TSP-4 in cancer inflammation and identifies the pathways, in which increased levels of TSP-4 mediate cancer growth.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriane Feijo Evangelista ◽  
Renato J Oliveira ◽  
Viviane A O Silva ◽  
Rene A D C Vieira ◽  
Rui M Reis ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy among women. However, the role of microRNA (miRNA) expression in breast cancer progression is not fully understood. In this study we examined predictive interactions between differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs in breast cancer cell lines representative of the common molecular subtypes. Integrative bioinformatics analysis identified miR-193 and miR-210 as potential regulatory biomarkers of mRNA in breast cancer. Several recent studies have investigated these miRNAs in a broad range of tumors, but the mechanism of their involvement in cancer progression has not previously been investigated.Methods: The miRNA-mRNA interactions in breast cancer cell lines were identified by parallel expression analysis and miRNA target prediction programs. The expression profiles of mRNA and miRNAs from luminal (MCF-7, MCF-7/AZ and T47D), HER2 (BT20 and SK-BR3) and triple negative subtypes (Hs578T e MDA-MB-231) could be clearly separated by unsupervised analysis using HB4A cell line as a control. Breast cancer miRNA data from TCGA patients were grouped according to molecular subtypes and then used to validate these findings. Expression of miR-193 and miR-210 was investigated by miRNA transient silencing assays using the MCF7, BT20 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Functional studies included, xCELLigence system, ApoTox-Glo triplex assay, flow cytometry and transwell inserts were performed to determine cell proliferation, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, migration and invasion, respectively.Results: The most evident effects were associated with cell proliferation after miR-210 silencing in triple negative subtype cell line MDA-MB-231. Using in silico prediction algorithms, TNFRSF10 was identified as one of the potential regulated downstream targets for both miRNAs. The TNFRSF10C and TNFRSF10D mRNA expression inversely correlated with the expression levels of miR-193 and miR210 in breast cell lines and breast cancer patients, respectively. Other potential regulated genes whose expression also inversely correlated with both miRNAs were CCND1, a known mediator on invasion and metastasis, and the tumor suppressor gene RUNX3.Conclusions: In summary, our findings identify miR-193 and miR-210 as potential regulatory miRNA in different molecular subtypes of breast cancer and suggest that miR-210 may have a specific role in MDA-MB-231 proliferation. Our results highlight important new downstream regulated targets that may serve as promising therapeutic pathways for aggressive breast cancers


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3435
Author(s):  
Angela Dittmer ◽  
Jürgen Dittmer

CAFs (Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts) play an important role in cancer progression. For instance, they promote resistance to anti-estrogens, such as fulvestrant. Here, we show that, in ERα-positive breast cancer cell lines, the cocktail of factors secreted by CAFs (CAF-CM) induce the expression of the embryonal stem cell transcription factor Sox2 (sex determining region Y (SRY)-box 2). Long-term exposure to CAF-CM was able to give rise to very high Sox2 levels both in the absence and presence of fulvestrant. IL-6 (interleukin-6), a major component of CAF-CM, failed to raise Sox2 expression. In MCF-7 sublines established in the presence of CAF-CM, almost all cells showed Sox2 expression, whereas long-term treatment of T47D cells with CAF-CM resulted in a ~60-fold increase in the proportions of two distinct populations of Sox2 high and low expresser cells. Exposure of BT474 cells to CAF-CM raised the fraction of Sox2 high expresser cells by ~3-fold. Cell sorting based on CD44 and CD24 expression or ALDH (aldehyde dehydrogenase) activity revealed that most Sox2 high expresser cells were not CD44hi/CD24lo- or ALDH-positive cells suggesting that they were not CSCs (cancer stem cells), though CD44 played a role in Sox2 expression. Functionally, Sox2 was found to protect CAF-CM-treated cells against apoptosis and to allow higher growth activity in the presence of fulvestrant. Mechanistically, the key drivers of Sox2 expression was found to be STAT3 (Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3), Bcl-3 (B-cell lymphoma 3) and the PI3K (Phosphoinositide 3-kinase)/AKT pathway, whose activities/expression can all be upregulated by CAF-CM. These data suggest that CAF-CM induces Sox2 expression in non-CSCs by activating proteins involved in growth control and drug resistance, leading to higher protection against apoptosis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly R. Jordan ◽  
Jessica K. Hall ◽  
Troy Schedin ◽  
Michelle Borakove ◽  
Jenny J. Xian ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small membrane particles that contribute to cancer progression and metastases by transporting biologically significant proteins and nucleic acids. They may also serve as biomarkers of various disease states or important therapeutic targets. Breast cancer EVs have the potential to change the behavior of other cells in their microenvironment. However, the proteomic content of EVs isolated from young women’s breast cancer patients and the mechanisms underlying the influence of EVs on tumor cell behavior have not yet been reported. Methods In our current translational studies, we compared the proteomic content of EVs isolated from invasive breast cancer cell lines and plasma samples from young women’s breast cancer (YWBC) patients and age-matched healthy donors using mass spectrometry. We analyzed the functionality of EVs in two dimensional tumor cell invasion assays and the gene expression changes in tumor cells after incubation with EVs. Results We found that treatment with EVs from both invasive breast cancer cell lines and plasma of YWBC patients altered the invasive properties of non-invasive breast cancer cells. Proteomics identified differences between EVs from YWBC patients and healthy donors that correlated with their altered function. Further, we identified gene expression changes in non-invasive breast cancer cells after treatment with EVs that implicate the Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) signaling pathway as a potential targetable pathway affected by breast cancer-derived EVs. Conclusions Our results suggest that the proteome of EVs from breast cancer patients reflects their functionality in tumor motility assays and may help elucidate the role of EVs in breast cancer progression.


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