scholarly journals Enhancement of sodium/iodide symporter expression in thyroid and breast cancer

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 797-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Kogai ◽  
K Taki ◽  
G A Brent

The sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) mediates iodide uptake in the thyroid gland and lactating breast. NIS mRNA and protein expression are detected in most thyroid cancer specimens, although functional iodide uptake is usually reduced resulting in the characteristic finding of a ‘cold’ or non-functioning lesion on a radioiodine image. Iodide uptake after thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) stimulation, however, is sufficient in most differentiated thyroid cancer to utilize β-emitting radioactive iodide for the treatment of residual and metastatic disease. Elevated serum TSH, achieved by thyroid hormone withdrawal in athyreotic patients or after recombinant human thyrotropin administration, directly stimulates NIS gene expression and/or NIS trafficking to the plasma membrane, increasing radioiodide uptake. Approximately 10–20% differentiated thyroid cancers, however, do not express the NIS gene despite TSH stimulation. These tumors are generally associated with a poor prognosis. Reduced NIS gene expression in thyroid cancer is likely due in part, to impaired trans-activation at the proximal promoter and/or the upstream enhancer. Basal NIS gene expression is detected in about 80% breast cancer specimens, but the fraction with functional iodide transport is relatively low. Lactogenic hormones and various nuclear hormone receptor ligands increase iodide uptake in breast cancer cells in vitro, but TSH has no effect. A wide range of ‘differentiation’ agents have been utilized to stimulate NIS expression in thyroid and breast cancer using in vitro and in vivo models, and a few have been used in clinical studies. Retinoic acid has been used to stimulate NIS expression in both thyroid and breast cancer. There are similarities and differences in NIS gene regulation and expression in thyroid and breast cancer. The various agents used to enhance NIS expression in thyroid and breast cancer will be reviewed with a focus on the mechanism of action. Agents that promote tumor differentiation, or directly stimulate NIS gene expression, may result in iodine concentration in ‘scan-negative’ thyroid cancer and some breast cancer.

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A1033-A1033
Author(s):  
Yang Han ◽  
Viktoria F Koehler ◽  
Nathalie Schwenk ◽  
Kathrin A Schmohl ◽  
Rebekka Spellerberg ◽  
...  

Abstract The sodium iodide symporter (NIS) mediates the active transport of iodide into thyroid follicular cells, providing the basis for the use of radioiodide for diagnostic imaging and therapy of differentiated thyroid cancer and also non-thyroidal tumors after tumor-selective NIS gene transfer. Based on their excellent tumor-homing capacity, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be employed as tumor-selective NIS gene delivery vehicles. Transgenic expression of NIS in genetically engineered MSCs allows noninvasive imaging of functional NIS expression as well as therapeutic application of 131I. The use of promoters activated by tumor micromilieu-derived signals to drive NIS expression enhances selectivity and effectiveness, while limiting potential off-target effects. In this study we aimed to exploit the central role of transforming growth factor B1 (TGFB1) in tumor milieu-associated signaling using a TGFB1-inducible synthetic SMAD-responsive promoter to selectively drive NIS-transgene expression in engineered MSCs (SMAD-NIS-MSC) in the context of differentiated thyroid cancer based on the critical role of TGFB1 in the pathogenesis of radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. To evaluate the TGFB1 expression in thyroid cancer cell lines, the TGFB1 concentration in conditioned medium (CM) from an array of established human papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) cell lines (BCPAP and K1) was measured by ELISA. BCPAP-CM showed a higher concentration of TGFB1, while a lower concentration was measured in K1-CM. Stimulation of SMAD-NIS-MSCs with PTC-CM showed a significant increase of NIS-mediated radioiodide-125 uptake in these MSCs in vitro. In addition, iodide uptake in SMAD-NIS-MSCs was significantly stimulated by co-culture with thyroid cancer cells. Cell migration assay was performed to validate the effect of PTC-CM in MSC recruitment. MSCs subjected to a gradient between tumor CM and serum free medium showed a directed chemotaxis towards CM with increased forward migration index (FMI) and center of mass (CoM). In a next step, based on the in vitro studies, SMAD-NIS-MSCs will be systemically applied via the tail vein to mice harboring subcutaneous PTC tumors and tumoral iodide uptake will be monitored by 123I-scintigraphy. Taken together, these data indicate the feasibility of commandeering TGF-β/SMAD signaling in the TGFB1-rich tumor environments of radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid carcinomas to re-establish functional NIS expression using engineered mesenchymal stem cells as therapy vehicles.


Endocrinology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 144 (8) ◽  
pp. 3423-3432 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Spitzweg ◽  
I. V. Scholz ◽  
E. R. Bergert ◽  
D. J. Tindall ◽  
C. Y. F. Young ◽  
...  

Abstract We reported recently the induction of androgen-dependent iodide uptake activity in the human prostatic adenocarcinoma cell line LNCaP using a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) promoter-directed expression of the sodium iodide symporter (NIS) gene. This offers the potential to treat prostate cancer with radioiodine. In the current study, we examined the regulation of PSA promoter-directed NIS expression and therapeutic effectiveness of 131I in LNCaP cells by all-trans-retinoic acid (atRA). For this purpose, NIS mRNA and protein expression levels in the NIS-transfected LNCaP cell line NP-1 were examined by Northern and Western blot analysis following incubation with atRA (10 −9 to 10−6m) in the presence of 10−9m mibolerone (mib). In addition, NIS functional activity was measured by iodide uptake assay, and in vitro cytotoxicity of 131I was examined by in vitro clonogenic assay. Following incubation with atRA, NIS mRNA levels in NP-1 cells were stimulated 3-fold in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas NIS protein levels increased 2.3-fold and iodide accumulation was stimulated 1.45-fold. This stimulatory effect of atRA, which has been shown to be retinoic acid receptor mediated, was completely blocked by the pure androgen receptor antagonist casodex (10−6m), indicating that it is androgen receptor dependent. The selective killing effect of 131I in NP-1 cells was 50% in NP-1 cells incubated with 10−9m mib. This was increased to 90% in NP-1 cells treated with atRA (10−7m) plus 10−9m mib. In conclusion, treatment with atRA increases NIS expression levels and selective killing effect of 131I in prostate cancer cells stably expressing NIS under the control of the PSA promoter. Therefore atRA may be used to enhance the therapeutic response to radioiodine in prostate cancer cells following PSA promoter-directed NIS gene delivery.


2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1121-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orsolya Dohán ◽  
Antonio De la Vieja ◽  
Nancy Carrasco

Abstract The sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) mediates a remarkably effective targeted radioiodide therapy in thyroid cancer; this approach is an emerging candidate for treating other cancers that express NIS, whether endogenously or by exogenous gene transfer. Thus far, the only extrathyroidal malignancy known to express functional NIS endogenously is breast cancer. Therapeutic efficacy in thyroid cancer requires that radioiodide uptake be maximized in tumor cells by manipulating well-known regulatory factors of NIS expression in thyroid cells, such as TSH, which stimulates NIS expression via cAMP. Similarly, therapeutic efficacy in breast cancer will likely depend on manipulating NIS regulation in mammary cells, which differs from that in the thyroid. Human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells modestly express endogenous NIS when treated with all-trans-retinoic acid (tRa). We report here that hydrocortisone and ATP each markedly stimulates tRa-induced NIS protein expression and plasma membrane targeting in MCF-7 cells, leading to at least a 100% increase in iodide uptake. Surprisingly, the adenyl cyclase activator forskolin, which promotes NIS expression in thyroid cells, markedly decreases tRa-induced NIS protein expression in MCF-7 cells. Isobutylmethylxanthine increases tRa-induced NIS expression in MCF-7 cells, probably through a purinergic signaling system independent of isobutylmethylxanthine’s action as a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. We also observed that neither iodide, which at high concentrations down-regulates NIS in the thyroid, nor cAMP has a significant effect on NIS expression in MCF-7 cells. Our findings may open new strategies for breast-selective pharmacological modulation of functional NIS expression, thus improving the feasibility of using radioiodide to effectively treat breast cancer.


2006 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Unterholzner ◽  
M. J. Willhauck ◽  
N. Cengic ◽  
M. Schütz ◽  
B. Göke ◽  
...  

Abstract Context: The sodium iodide symporter (NIS) mediates the active iodide uptake in the thyroid gland as well as lactating breast tissue. Recently induction of functional NIS expression was reported in the estrogen receptor-positive human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 by all-trans retinoic acid (atRA) treatment in vitro and in vivo, which might offer the potential to treat breast cancer with radioiodine. Objective: In the current study, we examined the effect of dexamethasone (Dex) on atRA-induced NIS expression and therapeutic efficacy of 131-I in MCF-7 cells. Design: For this purpose, NIS mRNA and protein expression levels in MCF-7 cells were examined by Northern and Western blot analysis after incubation with Dex (10−9 to 10−7m) in the presence of atRA (10−6m) as well as immunostaining using a mouse monoclonal human NIS-specific antibody. In addition, NIS functional activity was measured by iodide uptake and efflux assay, and in vitro cytotoxicity of 131-I was examined by in vitro clonogenic assay. Results: After incubation with Dex in the presence of atRA, NIS mRNA levels in MCF-7 cells were stimulated up to 11-fold in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas NIS protein levels increased up to 16-fold and iodide accumulation was stimulated up to 3- to 4-fold. Furthermore, iodide efflux was modestly decreased after stimulation with Dex in the presence of atRA. Furthermore, in the in vitro clonogenic assay, selective cytotoxicity of 131-I was significantly increased from approximately 17% in MCF-7 cells treated with atRA alone to 80% in MCF-7 cells treated with Dex in the presence of atRA. Conclusion: Treatment with Dex in the presence of atRA significantly increases functional NIS expression levels in addition to inhibiting iodide efflux, resulting in an enhanced selective killing effect of 131-I in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.


1999 ◽  
pp. 443-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Filetti ◽  
JM Bidart ◽  
F Arturi ◽  
B Caillou ◽  
D Russo ◽  
...  

The recent cloning of the gene encoding the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) has enabled better characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying iodide transport, thus opening the way to clarifying its role in thyroid diseases. Several studies, at both the mRNA and the protein expression levels, have demonstrated that TSH, the primary regulator of iodide uptake, upregulates NIS gene expression and NIS protein abundance, both in vitro and in vivo. However, other factors, including iodide, retinoic acid, transforming growth factor-beta, interleukin-1alpha and tumour necrosis factor alpha, may participate in the regulation of NIS expression. Investigation of NIS mRNA expression in different thyroid tissues has revealed increased levels of expression in Graves' disease and toxic adenomas, whereas a reduction or loss of NIS transcript was detected in differentiated thyroid carcinomas, despite the expression of other specific thyroid markers. NIS mRNA was also detected in non-thyroid tissues able to concentrate radioiodine, including salivary glands, stomach, thymus and breast. The production of specific antibodies against the NIS has facilitated study of the expression of the symporter protein. Despite of the presence of high levels of human (h)NIS mRNA, normal thyroid glands exhibit a heterogeneous expression of NIS protein, limited to the basolateral membrane of the thyrocytes. By immunohistochemistry, staining of hNIS protein was stronger in Graves' and toxic adenomas and reduced in thyroid carcinomas. Measurement of iodide uptake by thyroid cancer cells is the cornerstone of the follow-up and treatment of patients with thyroid cancer. However, radioiodide uptake is found only in about 67% of patients with persistent or recurrent disease. Several studies have demonstrated a decrease in or a loss of NIS expression in primary human thyroid carcinomas, and immunohistochemical studies have confirmed this considerably decreased expression of the NIS protein in thyroid cancer tissues, suggesting that the low expression of NIS may represent an early abnormality in the pathway of thyroid cell transformation, rather than being a consequence of cancer progression. The relationship between radioiodine uptake and NIS expression by thyroid cancer cells require further study. New strategies, based on manipulation of NIS expression, to obtain NIS gene reactivation or for use as NIS gene therapy in the treatment of radiosensitive cancer, are also being investigated.


Endocrinology ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 145 (3) ◽  
pp. 1290-1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cinzia Puppin ◽  
Franco Arturi ◽  
Elisabetta Ferretti ◽  
Diego Russo ◽  
Rosario Sacco ◽  
...  

Abstract The transcriptional regulation of the human sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) gene in normal and transformed thyroid cells is a crucial issue in attempting to restore iodide uptake and use radioiodine as a therapeutic treatment of thyroid cancer. Previous investigations have shown that the multifunctional protein apurinic apyrimidinic endonuclease/redox factor 1 (APE/Ref-1) plays an important role in regulation of thyroid-specific gene transcription. In this study, we investigated the effects of APE/Ref-1 on human NIS promoter activity. Cotransfection experiments performed in nonthyroid HeLa cells demonstrated that APE/Ref-1 exerts both PAX8-dependent and PAX8-independent effects. In fact, in the absence of PAX8, overexpression of APE/Ref-1 enhanced NIS promoter activity 2-fold. When the expression plasmid of APE/Ref-1 was transfected together with an expression plasmid for PAX8, a strong cooperative effect was detected with an increase of NIS promoter activity 9-fold over control. The PAX8-independent effect of APE/Ref-1 was specific for the NIS promoter, resulting not present for the promoter of the thyroperoxidase (TPO) gene. It was, at least in part, due to the up-regulation of the transcriptional activity of the ubiquitous factor early growth response-1 (Egr-1). In the thyroid tumor cell lines TPC-1 and B-CPAP, APE/Ref-1 was not effective by itself, and it also failed to increase PAX8 stimulation on NIS promoter activity. These data demonstrate a role for APE/Ref-1 protein in the transcriptional regulation of NIS gene expression by itself and in cooperation with PAX8. However, restoring the PAX8-APE/Ref-1 expression in tumor cells may not be sufficient to obtain adequate levels of NIS gene expression.


2011 ◽  
Vol 210 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki E Smith ◽  
Jayne A Franklyn ◽  
Christopher J McCabe

Pituitary tumor-transforming gene (PTTG)-binding factor (PBF; PTTG1IP) was initially identified through its interaction with the human securin, PTTG. Like PTTG, PBF is upregulated in multiple endocrine tumours including thyroid cancer. PBF is believed to induce the translocation of PTTG into the cell nucleus where it can drive tumourigenesis via a number of different mechanisms. However, an independent transforming ability has been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that PBF is itself a proto-oncogene. Studied in only a limited number of publications to date, PBF is emerging as a protein with a growing repertoire of roles. Recent data suggest that PBF possesses a complex multifunctionality in an increasing number of tumour settings. For example, PBF is upregulated by oestrogen and mediates oestrogen-stimulated cell invasion in breast cancer cells. In addition to a possible role in the induction of thyroid tumourigenesis, PBF overexpression in thyroid cancers inhibits iodide uptake. PBF has been shown to repress sodium iodide symporter (NIS) activity by transcriptional regulation of NIS expression through the human NIS upstream enhancer and further inhibits iodide uptake via a post-translational mechanism of NIS governing subcellular localisation. This review discusses the current data describing PBF expression and function in thyroid cancer and highlights PBF as a novel target for improving radioiodine uptake and thus prognosis in thyroid cancer.


2007 ◽  
Vol 92 (10) ◽  
pp. 4046-4051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huika Li ◽  
Kerry Richard ◽  
Brett McKinnon ◽  
Robin H. Mortimer

Abstract Context: Active placental transport of maternal iodide by the thyroidal sodium iodide symporter (NIS) provides an essential substrate for fetal thyroid hormone synthesis. NIS is expressed in trophoblast and is regulated by human choriogonadotropin (hCG). In thyroid, iodide down-regulates expression of several genes including NIS. Placentas of iodine-deficient rats demonstrate up-regulation of NIS mRNA, suggesting a role for iodide in regulating placental NIS. Objectives and Methods: The objectives were to examine effects of iodide on expression of NIS and hCG in BeWo choriocarcinoma cells. Gene expression was studied by quantitative real-time PCR. Effects on NIS protein expression were assessed by Western blotting. Functional activity of NIS was measured by 125I uptake. Expression of hCG protein was assessed by immunoassay of secreted hormone. Results: Iodide inhibited NIS mRNA and membrane protein expression as well as 125I uptake, which were paralleled by decreased βhCG mRNA expression and protein secretion. Iodide had no effects on pendrin expression. Addition of hCG increased NIS mRNA expression. This effect was partially inhibited by addition of iodide. The inhibitory effects of iodide on NIS mRNA expression were abolished by propylthiouracil and dithiothreitol. Conclusions: We conclude that expression of placental NIS is modulated by maternal iodide. This may occur through modulation of hCG effects on NIS and hCG gene expression.


2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (31) ◽  
pp. 10726-10740
Author(s):  
Hongwei Gao ◽  
Peirong Bai ◽  
Lin Xiao ◽  
Mengjia Shen ◽  
Qiuxiao Yu ◽  
...  

Mediator complex subunit 16 (MED16) is a component of the mediator complex and functions as a coactivator in transcriptional events at almost all RNA polymerase II–dependent genes. In this study, we report that the expression of MED16 is markedly decreased in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) tumors compared with normal thyroid tissues. In vitro, MED16 overexpression in PTC cells significantly inhibited cell migration, enhanced sodium/iodide symporter expression and iodine uptake, and decreased resistance to radioactive 131I (RAI). Conversely, PTC cells in which MED16 had been further knocked down (MED16KD) exhibited enhanced cell migration, epithelial–mesenchymal transition, and RAI resistance, accompanied by decreased sodium/iodide symporter levels. Moreover, cell signaling through transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) was highly activated after the MED16 knockdown. Similar results were obtained in MED12KD PTC cells, and a co-immunoprecipitation experiment verified interactions between MED16 and MED12 and between MED16 and TGF-βR2. Of note, the application of LY2157299, a potent inhibitor of TGF-β signaling, significantly attenuated MED16KD-induced RAI resistance both in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, our findings indicate that MED16 reduction in PTC contributes to tumor progression and RAI resistance via the activation of the TGF-β pathway.


Surgery ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 167 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy M. Ullmann ◽  
Heng Liang ◽  
Maureen D. Moore ◽  
Isra Al-Jamed ◽  
Katherine D. Gray ◽  
...  

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