Project description:Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is an intriguing phenomenon observed in tumor masses, in which cancer cells organize themselves into capillary-like channels that closely resemble the structure and function of blood vessels. Although VM is believed to contribute to alternative tumor vascularization, the detailed regulatory mechanisms controlling these cellular processes remain poorly understood. Our study aimed to investigate the role of Early Growth Response 1 (EGR1) in regulating VM in aggressive cancer cells, specifically MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer cells.
Project description:To determine gene expression changes in vasculogenic mimicry competent human breast cancer cells with loss of FOXC2 we performed RNA-seq of MDA-MB-231 cells with FOXC2 knockdown.
Project description:Vasculogenic mimicry has been generally accepted as a new form of tumor vascularization and regarded as an unfavorable prognostic factor in multiple aggressive malignancies. We previously reported the presence of vasculogenic mimicry in osteosarcoma patients. The mechanistic basis for osteosarcoma VM remains unclear. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression between 143B cells and HOS cells exposed to Matrigel which showed greatly different vasculogenic mimicry formation potential and identified distinct classes of vasculogenic mimicry-realted genes during this process.
Project description:Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is an intriguing phenomenon observed in tumor masses, in which cancer cells organize themselves into capillary-like channels that closely resemble the structure and function of blood vessels. Although VM is believed to contribute to alternative tumor vascularization, the detailed regulatory mechanisms controlling these cellular processes remain poorly understood. Our study aimed to investigate the role of Early Growth Response 1 (EGR1) in regulating VM in aggressive cancer cells, specifically MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer cells. Our study revealed that EGR1 promotes the formation of capillary-like tubes by MDA-MB-231 cells in a 3-dimensional Matrigel matrix. EGR1 was observed to upregulate Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) expression, which regulates the formation of the capillary-like tube structure. Additionally, our findings highlight the involvement of the ERK1/2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways in mediating the expression of EGR1 and KLF4, underscoring their crucial role in VM in MDA-MB-231 cells. Understanding these regulatory mechanisms will provide valuable insights into potential therapeutic targets for preventing VM during the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.
Project description:Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) with the pattern of endothelial independent tubular structure formation lined by aggressive tumor cells mimics regular tumor blood vessels to ensure robust blood supply and correlates with the proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and poor prognosis of malignant tumors, which was demonstrated to be a major obstacle for resistance to antiangiogenesis therapy. Therefore, it is urgent to discover methods to abrogate the VM formation of tumors, which possesses important practical significance for improving tumor therapy. Brucine is a traditional medicinal herb extracted from seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica L. (Loganiaceae) exhibiting antitumor activity in a variety of cancer models. In the present study, the effect of brucine on vasculogenic mimicry and the related mechanism are to be investigated. We demonstrated that, in a triple-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231, brucine induced a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on cell proliferation along with apoptosis induction at higher concentrations. The further study showed that brucine inhibited cell migration and invasion with a dose-dependent manner. Our results for the first time indicated that brucine could disrupt F-actin cytoskeleton and microtubule structure, thereby impairing hallmarks of aggressive tumors, like migration, invasion, and holding a possibility of suppressing vasculogenic mimicry. Hence, the inhibitory effect of brucine on vasculogenic mimicry was further verified. The results illustrated that brucine significantly suppressed vasculogenic mimicry tube formation with a dose-dependent effect indicated by the change of the number of tubules, intersections, and mean length of tubules. The in-depth molecular mechanism of vasculogenic mimicry suppression induced by brucine was finally suggested. It was demonstrated that brucine inhibited vasculogenic mimicry which might be through the downregulation of erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular carcinoma-A2 and matrix metalloproteinase-2 and metalloproteinase-9.
Project description:Dicer, RNase III endonuclease, is an essential enzyme in miRNA biogenesis that regulates target gene expression, and it has been reported that aberrant expressions of Dicer associate with the clinical outcomes of patients in various cancers. To explore the miRNA differencial expression regulated by Dicer in MDA-MB-231/E1A cells, the microarray profiling analysis was employed to conduct differentially expressed miRNAs in stable MDA-MB-231/vector, MDA-MB-231/E1A, and MDA-MB-231/E1A/shDicer cells.
Project description:Dicer, RNase III endonuclease, is an essential enzyme in miRNA biogenesis that regulates target gene expression, and it has been reported that aberrant expressions of Dicer associate with the clinical outcomes of patients in various cancers. To explore the miRNA differencial expression regulated by Dicer in MDA-MB-231/E1A cells, the microarray profiling analysis was employed to conduct differentially expressed miRNAs in stable MDA-MB-231/vector, MDA-MB-231/E1A, and MDA-MB-231/E1A/shDicer cells. The four groups including vector control, E1A-expressing and Dicer knockdown in E1A-expressing MDA-MB-231 cells were harvested and RNA were isolated. Two independent experiments were performed for each group.
Project description:Dietary supplementation is proposed as a strategy to reduce the side effects of conventional chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Chitosan oligosaccharides (COS), a functional carbohydrate, have been identified to potentially inhibit cancer cell proliferation. However, a detailed investigation is required to fully understand its exact influence, particularly in terms of COS composition. The antitumor activities of COS oligomers and its monomer of glucosamine, when combined with doxorubicin separately, were evaluated in MDA-MB-231 cells. Chitotriose was identified to have the most significant synergistic effect. Preincubation with chitotriose was observed to promote the entry of doxorubicin into the cell nuclei and induce morphological changes in the cells. Mechanism analysis at the transcriptional level revealed that the early growth response 1 (Egr1) gene was a key regulator in enhancing the suppressive effect. This gene was found to modulate the activity of its downstream gene, growth arrest, and DNA damage-inducible alpha (Gadd45a). The role of Egr1 was confirmed through a small interfering RNA test and function assay. These findings provide insight into the effect and underlying mechanism of chitotriose supplementation for TNBC therapy.