Abstract. Anti-estrogens such as tamoxifen are widely used in the clinic to treat estrogen receptor-positive breast tumors. Patients with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer initially respond to treatment with anti-hormonal agents such as tamoxifen, but remissions are often followed by the acquisition of resistance and, ultimately, disease relapse. The development of a rationale for the effective treatment of tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer requires an understanding of the complex signal transduction mechanisms. In the present study, we explored some mechanisms associated with resistance to tamoxifen, such as pharmacologic mechanisms, loss or modification in estrogen receptor expression, alterations in co-regulatory proteins and the regulation of the different signaling pathways that participate in different cellular processes such as survival, proliferation, stress, cell cycle, inhibition of apoptosis regulated by the Bcl-2 family, autophagy, altered expression of microRNA, and signaling pathways that regulate the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the tumor microenvironment. Delineation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of resistance may aid in the development of treatment strategies to enhance response and compromise resistance.

For early detection of cancer, education and screening are important, but the most critical factor is the development of early diagnostic tools. Methods that recognize the warning signs of cancer and take prompt action lead to an early diagnosis; simple tests can identify individuals in a healthy population who have the disease but have not developed symptoms. Early detection of cancer is significant and is one of the most promising approaches by which to reduce the growing cancer burden and guide curative treatment. The early diagnosis of patients with breast cancer is challenging, since it is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Despite the advent of mammography in screening for breast cancer, low-resource, low-cost alternative tools must be implemented to complement mammography findings. IgM is part of the first line of defense of an organism and is responsible for recognizing and eliminating infectious particles and removing transformed cells. Most studies on breast cancer have focused on the development of IgG-like molecules as biomarkers or as a treatment for the advanced stages of cancer, but autoantibodies (IgM) and tumor-associated antigens (proteins or carbohydrates with aberrant structures) have not been examined as early diagnostic tools for breast cancer. The present review summarizes the function of natural and adaptive IgM in eliminating cancer cells in the early stages of pathology and their value as early diagnostic tools. IgM, as a component of the immune system, is being used to identify tumor-associated antigens and tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens.

Telomere shortening increases with the duration of diabetes. The time of exhibition suggests in parallel that the progressive increase of inflammation and/or oxidative stress plays a direct role in telomere shortening.

In this descriptive study we investigated the genetic structure of 513 Mexican indigenous subjects grouped in 14 populations (Mixteca-Alta, Mixteca-Baja, Otomi, Purépecha, Tzeltal, Tarahumara, Huichol, Nahua-Atocpan, Nahua-Xochimilco, Nahua-Zitlala, Nahua-Chilacachapa, Nahua-Ixhuatlancillo, Nahua-Necoxtla, and Nahua-Coyolillo) based on mtDNA haplogroups. These communities are geographically and culturally isolated; parents and grandparents were born in the community. Our data show that 98.6% of the mtDNA was distributed in haplogroups A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, and D2. Haplotype X6 was present in the Tarahumara (1/53) and Huichol (3/15), and haplotype L was present in the Nahua-Coyolillo (3/38). The first two principal components accounted for 95.9% of the total variation in the sample. The mtDNA haplogroup frequencies in the Purépecha and Zitlala were intermediate to cluster 1 (Otomi, Nahua-Ixhuatlancillo, Nahua-Xochimilco, Mixteca-Baja, and Tzeltal) and cluster 2 (Nahua-Necoxtla, Nahua-Atocpan, and Nahua-Chilacachapa). The Huichol, Tarahumara, Mixteca-Alta, and Nahua-Coyolillo were separated from the rest of the populations. According to these findings, the distribution of mtDNA haplogroups found in Mexican indigenous groups is similar to other Amerindian haplogroups, except for the African haplogroup found in one population.

Maintenance of telomere length is one function of human telomerase that is crucial for the survival of cancer cells and cancer progression. Both telomeres and telomerase have been proposed as possible biomarkers of cancer risk and cancer invasiveness; however, their clinical relevance is still under discussion. In order to improve our understanding of the relationship between telomere length and telomerase activity with cancer invasiveness, we studied telomere length as well as telomerase levels, activity, and intracellular localization in breast cancer cell lines with diverse invasive phenotypes. We found an apparently paradoxical coincidence of short telomeres and enhanced telomerase activity in the most invasive breast cancer cell lines. We also observed that hTERT intracellular localization could be correlated with its level of activity. There was no association between human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) protein expression levels and invasiveness. We propose that simultaneous evaluation of these two biomarkers-telomere length and telomerase activity-could be useful for the assessment of the invasive capacity and aggressiveness of tumor cells from breast cancer patients.

BackgroundRecently, a direct correlation with telomere length, proliferative potential and telomerase activity has been found in the process of aging in peripheral blood cells. The objective of the study was to evaluate telomere length and proliferative potential in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after stimulation with Concanavalin A (ConA) of young adults compared with older adults.MethodsBlood samples were obtained from 20 healthy young males (20–25 years old) (group Y) and 20 males (60–65 years old) (group O). We compared PBMC proliferation before and after stimulation with ConA. DNA was isolated from cells separated before and after culture with ConA for telomeric measurement by real-time polymerase chain reaction.ResultsIn vitro stimulation of PBMCs from young subjects induced an increase of telomere length as well as a higher replicative capacity of cell proliferation. Samples from older adults showed higher loss of telomeric DNA (p = 0.03) and higher levels of senescent (≤6.2 kb) telomeric DNA (p = 0.02) and displayed a marked decrease of proliferation capacity. Viability cell counts and CFSE tracking in 72-h-old cell cultures indicated that group O PBMCs (CD8+ and CD4+ T cells) underwent fewer mitotic cycles and had shorter telomeres than group Y (p = 0.04).ConclusionsOur findings confirm that telomere length in older-age adults is shorter than in younger subjects. After stimulation with ConA, cells are not restored to the previous telomere length and undergo replicative senescence. This is in sharp contrast to the response observed in young adults after ConA stimulation where cells increase in telomere length and replicative capacity. The mechanisms involved in this phenomenon are not yet clear and merit further investigation.

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Abstract. Apoptosis is controlled by the BCL-2 family of proteins, which can be divided into three different subclasses based on the conservation of BCL-2 homology domains. BIK is a founding member of the BH3-only pro-apoptotic protein family. BIK is predominantly localized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and induces apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway by mobilizing calcium from the ER to the mitochondria. In this study, we determined that suppression of the death gene Bik promotes resistance to tamoxifen (TAM) in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. We utilized small interfering (siRNA) to specifically knockdown BIK in MCF-7 cells and studied their response to tamoxifen. The levels of cell apoptosis, the potential mitochondrial membrane (∆Ψ m ), and the activation of total caspases were analyzed. Western blot analysis was used to determine the expression of some BCL-2 family proteins. Flow cytometry studies revealed an increase in apoptosis level in MCF-7 cells and a 2-fold increase in relative BIK messenger RNA (mRNA) expression at a concentration of 6.0 μM of TAM. BIK silencing, with a specific RNAi, blocked TAM-induced apoptosis in 45±6.78% of cells. Moreover, it decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (Ψ m ) and total caspase activity, and exhibited low expression of pro-apoptotic proteins BAX, BAK, PUMA and a high expression of BCl-2 and MCL-1. The above suggests resistance to TAM, regulating the intrinsic pathway and indicate that BIK comprises an important factor in the process of apoptosis, which may exert an influence the ER pathway, which regulates mitochondrial integrity. Collectively, our results show that BIK is a central component of the programmed cell death of TAM-induced MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The silencing of BIK gene will be useful for future studies to establish the mechanisms of regulation of resistance to TAM.