Calpain-1 Expression in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Potential Prognostic Factor Independent of the Proliferative/Apoptotic Index

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive type of breast cancer in which calpain system plays an important role in its cellular processes including apoptosis and proliferation. Although such roles have been assessed in tumor pathogenesis, the correlation of its expression to the proliferating/apoptotic index has not been studied yet. Immunohistochemical staining of calpain-1 was performed on paraffin-embedded tissues to correlate its expression with clinicopathological variables and outcome. The proliferation activity was determined by calculating the percentage of cells expressing the Ki-67 antigen. The apoptotic index was assessed morphologically and biochemically using Haematoxylin & Eosin method and Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay, respectively. Calpain-1 was significantly expressed in TNBC tissues varying from low to high with a significant correlation to lymph node status but not with the other clinicopathological variables, suggesting its role as a prognostic factor. In addition, a positive correlation was found between both apoptotic counts assays (P < 0.001, r = 0.547) as well as with proliferation (P = 0.045). Calpain-1 expression had no significant correlation with either proliferation (P = 0.29) or apoptotic indices (P = 0.071 and P = 0.100). Determining calpain-1 expression may provide relevant prognostic value for TNBC cancer patients.

Correlation of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) to Apoptotic Index (AI) in Breast Cancer

“…For adenocarcinoma (AC) and squamous cell lung carcinoma (SQCC), the mean AI% was 1.10% (min 0.12%, max 5.33%) and 1.23% (min 0.030/0, max 6.09%), respectively. 3 Conversely, research on non-seminomatous germ cell tumors in the testicles did not find any association between the quantity of TIL and AI. AI, or the proportion of apoptotic cells in all tumor cells under investigation, was used to compute the number of apoptosis.…”

“…Using the Haematoxylin & Eosin and Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling test techniques, AI was evaluated visually and biochemically. 3 The connection between AI and TILS in breast cancer is currently unexplored. Another study that revealed lymphocytic infiltration was examined in further depth utilizing the CytoDEATH M30 antibody on apoptotic epithelial/tumor cells.…”

17β-Estradiol promotes metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer through the Calpain/YAP/β-catenin signaling axis

“…Dysregulation of Calpain activity is closely associated with the development of various tumors, including breast cancer. The Calpain family member calpain-1 is expressed in TNBC and associated with prognosis [ 25 ]. Calpain has been reported to mediate fibronectin-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition in breast cancer cells [ 26 ].…”

Pyroptosis-Related Gene Model Predicts Prognosis and Immune Microenvironment for Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

“…In this investigation, we determined three pyroptosisrelated genes including CAPN1, BNIP3, and CASP6 as prognostic signatures of NSCLC based on the expression profile with 146 pyroptosis-related genes from the TCGA database, which are overexpressed in the tumor tissues. Calpain 1 (CAPN1) is a type of cysteine activated by calcium with proinflammation [52], which is widely expressed in vivo and has been proved as a promoter of cancer progression that is significantly related to poor prognosis [53][54][55]. The Calpain family where CAPN1 belongs can influence the malignancy phenotype of lung cancer cells by degrading proteins according to some reports [56][57][58][59] and also is involved in various cellular processes containing cell signal transduction and apoptosis, etc.…”