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BackgroundA major problem with the use of current chemotherapy regimens for several cancers, including breast cancer, is development of intrinsic or acquired drug resistance, which results in disease recurrence and metastasis. However, the mechanisms underlying this drug resistance are unknown. To study the molecular mechanisms underlying the invasive and metastatic activities of drug-resistant cancer cells, we generated a doxorubicin-resistant MCF-7 breast cancer cell line (MCF-7/DOX).MethodsWe used MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays, flow cytometry assays, DNA fragmentation assays, Western blot analysis, cell invasion assays, small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, experimental lung metastasis models, and gelatin and fibrinogen/plasminogen zymography to study the molecular mechanism of metastatic activities in MCF-7/DOX cells.ResultsWe found that MCF-7/DOX acquired invasive activities. In addition, Western blot analysis showed increased expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and Cox-2 in MCF-7/DOX cells. Inhibition of Cox-2, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt, or mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways effectively inhibited the invasive activities of MCF-7/DOX cells. Gelatin and fibrinogen/plasminogen zymography analysis showed that the enzymatic activities of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), MMP-9, and urokinase-type plasminogen activator were markedly higher in MCF-7/DOX cells than in the MCF-7 cells. In vitro invasion assays and mouse models of lung metastasis demonstrated that MCF-7/DOX cells acquired invasive abilities. Using siRNAs and agonists specific for prostaglandin E (EP) receptors, we found that EP1 and EP3 played important roles in the invasiveness of MCF-7/DOX cells.ConclusionsWe found that the invasive activity of MCF-7/DOX cells is mediated by Cox-2, which is induced by the EGFR-activated PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways. In addition, EP1 and EP3 are important in the Cox-2-induced invasion of MCF-7/DOX cells. Therefore, not only Cox-2 but also EP1 and EP3 could be important targets for chemosensitization and inhibition of metastasis in breast cancers that are resistant to chemotherapy.

The c-MYC inhibitor KSI-3716 could be developed as an effective intravesical chemotherapy agent for bladder cancer.

Although trastuzumab is a successful targeted therapy for breast cancer patients with tumors expressing HER2 (ERBB2), many patients eventually progress to drug resistance. Here, we identified subpathways differentially expressed between trastuzumab-resistant vs. -sensitive breast cancer cells, in conjunction with additional transcriptomic preclinical and clinical gene datasets, to rigorously identify overexpressed, resistance-associated genes. From this approach, we identified 32 genes reproducibly upregulated in trastuzumab resistance. 25 genes were upregulated in drug-resistant JIMT-1 cells, which also downregulated HER2 protein by >80% in the presence of trastuzumab. 24 genes were downregulated in trastuzumab-sensitive SKBR3 cells. Trastuzumab sensitivity was restored by siRNA knockdown of these genes in the resistant cells, and overexpression of 5 of the 25 genes was found in at least one of five refractory HER2 + breast cancer. In summary, our rigorous computational approach, followed by experimental validation, significantly implicate ATF4, CHEK2, ENAH, ICOSLG, and RAD51 as potential biomarkers of trastuzumab resistance. These results provide further proof-of-concept of our methodology for successfully identifying potential biomarkers and druggable signal pathways involved in tumor progression to drug resistance.

the cellular response to DnA damage is emerging as a promising target for cancer therapy. in the present study, the authors exploited the relationship between the level of the phosphorylated form of histone H2AX (γH2AX) and the extent of DnA damage and developed a quantitative, cell-based, high-content screening system for measuring the DnA damage response (DDr). in this system, the authors quantified the level of γH2AX by measuring DnA damage-induced γH2AX nuclear foci using an automated cell imager. they found that the total area of γH2AX foci per cell exhibited a good correlation with the concentration of DnA damage-inducing agents, including etoposide. the effects of 2 well-known inhibitors of DnA damage could be quantified using this system, suggesting the suitability of the γH2AX-foci quantification method for large-scale screening applications. this was confirmed by using this method to screen a chemical library; the resulting "hits" included compounds that inhibited early signaling events in DDr, as well those that inhibited subsequent DnA damage repair processes. overall, this γH2AX foci-measuring system may be an effective screening method for identifying DnA damage response inhibitors that could eventually be used to develop novel anticancer drugs.

Intravesical instillation of chemotherapeutic agents is a well-established treatment strategy to decrease recurrence following transurethral resection in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Gemcitabine is a recently developed treatment option. However, the curative effects of gemcitabine are far from satisfactory due to de novo or acquired drug resistance. In a previous study, we reported that intravesical administration of the c-Myc inhibitor KSI-3716 suppresses tumor growth in an orthotopic bladder cancer model. Here, we explored whether KSI-3716 inhibits gemcitabine-resistant bladder cancer cell proliferation. As expected from the in vitro cytotoxicity of gemcitabine in several bladder cancer cell lines, gemcitabine effectively suppressed the growth of KU19-19 xenografts in nude mice, although all mice relapsed later. Long-term in vitro exposure to gemcitabine induced gemcitabine-specific resistance. Gemcitabine-resistant cells, termed KU19-19/GEM, formed xenograft tumors even in the presence of 2 mg/kg gemcitabine. Interestingly, KU19-19/GEM cells up-regulated c-Myc expression in the presence of the gemcitabine and resisted to the gemcitabine, however was suppressed by the KSI-3716. The sequential addition of gemcitabine and KSI-3716 inhibited gemcitabine-resistant cell proliferation to a great extent than each drug alone. These results suggest that sequential treatment with gemcitabine and KSI-3716 may be beneficial to bladder cancer patients.

Here, we fabricated polypyrrole nanoparticles (PPys) (termed HA10-PPy, HA20-PPy, and HA40-PPy) doped with different average molecular weight hyaluronic acids (HAs) (10, 20, and 40 kDa, respectively), and evaluated the effect of molecular weight of doped HA on photothermal induction, fluorescence quenching, and drug loading efficiencies. Doxorubicin-loaded HA-doped PPys (DOX@HA-PPys) could be used for imaging and therapy of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Fluorescence turn-on, stimuli-responsive drug release, and photo-induced heating of DOX@HA-PPys enabled not only activatable fluorescence imaging but also subsequent chemo/photothermal dual therapy for TNBC. In particular, we illustrated the potential usefulness of the photothermal effect of the nanoparticles for overcoming chemoresistance in TNBC.

c-Myc plays a decisive role in the proliferation of HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells. In the present study, we demonstrated that an inhibitor of c-Myc/Max/DNA complex formation has a high potentiality as a suppressor of c-Myc-involved cell signaling. We prepared recombinant c-Myc and Max proteins encompassing the human-origin DNA binding and dimerization domains, and tested a chemical library of 6480 small molecules for their inhibitory effect on the in vitro formation of the c-Myc/Max/DNA complex as well as their influence on DMSO-differentiated HL-60 cells. We found several hit compounds through in vitro and cell-based screening tests, and also confirmed these compounds significantly inhibited the formation of the recombinant c-Myc/Max/DNA complex in the low micromolar range. Indeed, these inhibitors effectively blocked c-Myc-associated gene expression in cancer cell line, suppressed the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells via cell cycle arrest without altering the expression level of c-Myc in the DMSO-differentiated HL-60 cells. These successive results suggest that our c-Myc/Max/DNA complex inhibitors potently contribute to the suppression of the Myc-dependent proliferation of leukemia cells and to the induction of apoptosis. Accordingly, we would expect that these compounds could serve as lead compounds in the development of novel anticancer drugs.