Contribution of three-dimensional architecture and tumor-associated fibroblasts to hepcidin regulation in breast cancer.

ABSTRACT: Hepcidin is a peptide hormone that negatively regulates iron efflux and plays an important role in controlling the growth of breast tumors. In patients with breast cancer, the combined expression of hepcidin and its membrane target, ferroportin, predict disease outcome. However, mechanisms that control hepcidin expression in breast cancer cells remain largely unknown. Here, we use three-dimensional breast cancer spheroids derived from cell lines and breast cancer patients to probe mechanisms of hepcidin regulation in breast cancer. We observe that the extent of hepcidin induction and pathways of its regulation are markedly changed in breast cancer cells grown in three dimensions. In monolayer culture, BMPs, particularly BMP6, regulate hepcidin transcription. When breast cancer cells are gr

SUBMITTER: Blanchette-Farra N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6054540 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature