scholarly journals Biochemical and histopathological evaluation of an in vivo model of breast cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-210
Author(s):  
Neha Sharma ◽  
Anila Negi ◽  
Dharambir Kashyap ◽  
Amanjit Bal ◽  
Shalmoli Bhattacharyya

Though, the clinical management of breast cancer has improved significantly over the past 30 years, it still remains the leading cause of cancer-related female death worldwide. Prevention is the fundamental issue in breast cancer control, for which identification markers in terms of initiation and promotion are necessary. To understand this, an animal model which can recapitulate the early symptoms of breast cancer development and progression is required. Present study is an attempt to develop a convenient and economical in-vivo animal model of breast cancer suitable to conduct such study. Female Wistar and SD rats were injected with different doses and routes of administration of 7, 12-Dihydroxymethylbenz (a) anthracene (DMBA). Animals were observed for the presence of visible/palpable tumours in mammary glands. Various parameters (Tumor morphology, oxidative stress and histopathological studies were studied in different tissues (mammary, lungs, kidney, liver) after the appearance of mammary tumours in rats. After 14 weeks all the animals developed breast carcinomas. The results of this study revealed a significant difference in oxidative stress parameters between DMBA treated and control groups and these alterations were strain dependent. The H&E staining of mice mammary tissue showed development of metaplastic triple negative breast cancer. Immunohistochemistry observation confirmed the triple negative nature of mammary tumours developed in the mice. Data confirmed that DMBA can be used as breast cancer initiator and present model can be further exploited to screen potential anti-breast cancer compounds in vivo.

1999 ◽  
pp. 307-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
R R Tekmal ◽  
N Kirma ◽  
K Gill ◽  
K Fowler

To test directly the role of breast-tissue estrogen in initiation of breast cancer, we have developed the aromatase-transgenic mouse model and demonstrated for the first time that increased mammary estrogens resulting from the overexpression of aromatase in mammary glands lead to the induction of various preneoplastic and neoplastic changes that are similar to early breast cancer. Continued overexpression of aromatase that leads to increased breast-tissue estrogen contributes to a number of epigenetic changes in mammary tissue such as alteration in the regulation of genes involved in apoptosis, activation of genes involved in cell cycle and cell proliferation, and activation of a number of growth factors. Our current studies show aromatase overexpression is sufficient to induce and maintain early preneoplastic and neoplastic changes in female mice without circulating ovarian estrogen. Preneoplastic and neoplastic changes induced in mammary glands as a result of aromatase overexpression can be completely abrogated with the administration of the aromatase inhibitor, letrozole. Consistent with complete reduction in hyperplasia, we have also seen downregulation of estrogen receptor and a decrease in cell proliferation markers, suggesting aromatase-induced hyperplasia can be treated with aromatase inhibitors. Our studies demonstrate that aromatase overexpression alone, without circulating estrogen, is responsible for the induction of breast hyperplasia and these changes can be abrogated using aromatase inhibitors.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2) ◽  
pp. e35-e40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yubo Zhai ◽  
Julia Santucci-Pereira ◽  
Ricardo Lopez de Cicco ◽  
Irma H. Russo ◽  
Jose Russo

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiyan Hu ◽  
Hongming Song ◽  
Haibo Wang ◽  
Mingkai Gong ◽  
Li Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract T-cell-based immunotherapy and immune checkpoint blockade have been successfully used to treat several human solid cancers. The present study attempted to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of the antitumour effect of adoptive cell therapy along with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We isolated and expanded tumour infiltration lymphocytes (TILs) from TNBC mouse tumour tissues and adoptive TIL transfusion (TILs-ACT) was applied in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor to the TNBC mouse model. The pre- and post-therapy antitumour efficacy, cytokine secretion, and pathological changes were assessed both in vitro and in vivo. TILs exhibited higher IFN-γ and TNF-α secretion than conventional T cells. The TILs-ACT combined with PD-1 inhibitor promoted active T-cell infiltration into the tumour tissue and exerted a strong antitumour effect in an in vivo model. Additionally, the strategy could downregulate the expression of inhibitory marker PD-1 on TILs. Our results suggested that PD-1 blockade regulated T-cell exhaustion which synergised with adoptive TIL transfer immunotherapy, leading to eradication of established TNBC tumours. These findings might be useful in developing a feasible and effective therapeutic approach for TNBC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 923-938
Author(s):  
Syed Ahmad ◽  
Qingping He ◽  
Kevin P. Williams ◽  
John E. Scott

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a very aggressive form of breast cancer with few molecularly targeted therapies. We used a novel unbiased approach to identify higher-order synergistic or enhancer combinations of marketed kinase inhibitor drugs that inhibit cell viability of TNBC cell lines. We mixed all 33 kinase-targeted drugs on the market at the time of this study, which allowed for all possible combinations to exist in the initial mixture. A kinase inhibitor group dropout approach was used to identify active groups and then single active drugs. After only three rounds of deconvolution, we identified five single drugs to test further. After further testing, we focused on one novel subset consisting of three kinase inhibitor drugs: dasatinib, afatinib, and trametinib (DAT) that target src family kinases, HER2/EGFR, and MEK, respectively. The DAT combination potently inhibited the proliferation of three TNBC cell lines and modestly inhibited a fourth. However, it was not significantly more potent or synergistic than other two drug combinations of these drugs. The cytotoxic activities of all possible combinations of these three drugs were also analyzed. Compared with all two-way combinations, the three-way DAT combination generated the most cytotoxicity and the highest synergies for two of the four cell lines tested, with possibly mild synergy in a third cell line. These data indicated that the DAT combination should be evaluated for efficacy in an in vivo model of TNBC and may provide a novel combination of existing drugs for the treatment of a subset of TNBC cases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e002383
Author(s):  
Jin-Li Wei ◽  
Si-Yu Wu ◽  
Yun-Song Yang ◽  
Yi Xiao ◽  
Xi Jin ◽  
...  

PurposeRegulatory T cells (Tregs) heavily infiltrate triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and their accumulation is affected by the metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells. In the present study, we sought to identify cancer cell-intrinsic metabolic modulators correlating with Tregs infiltration in TNBC.Experimental designUsing the RNA-sequencing data from our institute (n=360) and the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium TNBC cohort (n=320), we calculated the abundance of Tregs in each sample and evaluated the correlation between gene expression levels and Tregs infiltration. Then, in vivo and in vitro experiments were performed to verify the correlation and explore the underlying mechanism.ResultsWe revealed that GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1) expression was positively correlated with Tregs infiltration and high GCH1 expression was associated with reduced overall survival in TNBC. In vivo and in vitro experiments showed that GCH1 increased Tregs infiltration, decreased apoptosis, and elevated the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)-positive fraction. Metabolomics analysis indicated that GCH1 overexpression reprogrammed tryptophan metabolism, resulting in L-5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) accumulation in the cytoplasm accompanied by kynurenine accumulation and tryptophan reduction in the supernatant. Subsequently, aryl hydrocarbon receptor, activated by 5-HTP, bound to the promoter of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) and thus enhanced the transcription of IDO1. Furthermore, the inhibition of GCH1 by 2,4-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine (DAHP) decreased IDO1 expression, attenuated tumor growth, and enhanced the tumor response to PD-1 blockade immunotherapy.ConclusionsTumor-cell-intrinsic GCH1 induced immunosuppression through metabolic reprogramming and IDO1 upregulation in TNBC. Inhibition of GCH1 by DAHP serves as a potential immunometabolic strategy in TNBC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 107 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
D Aissaoui ◽  
M Bohli ◽  
R Ben Amor ◽  
J Yahyaoui ◽  
A Hamdoun ◽  
...  

Introduction: Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) is a rare and very aggressive breast cancer with poor prognosis. The prevalence is different from a country to another. In Tunisia, it is about 5 to 7% of breast cancer. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological and histopathological features of patients with inflammatory breast cancer and to evaluate the treatment response according to the molecular subtypes. Methods: This retrospective review identified 31 patients with no metastatic IBC treated in our radiotherapy department between December 2019 and November 2020. IBC was confirmed using the clinical criteria. Baseline clinic-pathological and treatment information was retrieved from medical records. Statistical analysis was performed with IBM SPSS V.20. Results: Median age was 51.3 years [27-68]. 48% of tumors were grade 3. The average tumor size was 36mm [10-90]. The histological type was ductal carcinoma in 97%. Vascular invasion was noted in 24 patients (77%). Thirty patients were classified as stage IIIB and one patient was IIIC. 74% were hormone receptor positive and 45% were HER2 positive. Luminal B was the predominant subtype (52%) followed by Her2 positive (32%), Luminal A (23%), and triple negative (3%) All patients had chemotherapy: neoadjuvant for 26 patients (84%) and adjuvant for 5 patients (16%). Nine patients (29%) had tumor pathological complete response (pCR). Partial response was observed in 18 patients (58%). Lymph node pCR was noted in 16% of cases (n=5). Endocrine therapy and trastuzumab were given to 76% and 45% of patients, respectively. The influence of the molecular subtype was not statistically significant on the response to neoadjuvant treatment. The highest rate of pCR were 43% for Her2positive, then 27%, 21% and 9% for Luminal B, Luminal A and Triple negative, respectively (p=0.2). Conclusion: Our study showed a high percentage of hormone receptor and Her2+ (74% and 45% respectively) in IBC. Luminal B was the most frequent subtype. Anthracycline-based chemotherapy and trastuzumab improved the pCR rate: 44% for Her2positive. Triple negative showed poorer pCR than other breast cancer subtype without a significant difference. A larger study is warranted to confirm our findings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia M. Saraiva ◽  
Carlha Gutiérrez-Lovera ◽  
Jeannette Martínez-Val ◽  
Sainza Lores ◽  
Belén L. Bouzo ◽  
...  

AbstractTriple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is known for being very aggressive, heterogeneous and highly metastatic. The standard of care treatment is still chemotherapy, with adjacent toxicity and low efficacy, highlighting the need for alternative and more effective therapeutic strategies. Edelfosine, an alkyl-lysophospholipid, has proved to be a promising therapy for several cancer types, upon delivery in lipid nanoparticles. Therefore, the objective of this work was to explore the potential of edelfosine for the treatment of TNBC. Edelfosine nanoemulsions (ET-NEs) composed by edelfosine, Miglyol 812 and phosphatidylcholine as excipients, due to their good safety profile, presented an average size of about 120 nm and a neutral zeta potential, and were stable in biorelevant media. The ability of ET-NEs to interrupt tumor growth in TNBC was demonstrated both in vitro, using a highly aggressive and invasive TNBC cell line, and in vivo, using zebrafish embryos. Importantly, ET-NEs were able to penetrate through the skin barrier of MDA-MB 231 xenografted zebrafish embryos, into the yolk sac, leading to an effective decrease of highly aggressive and invasive tumoral cells’ proliferation. Altogether the results demonstrate the potential of ET-NEs for the development of new therapeutic approaches for TNBC.


Oncogene ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jhih-Kai Pan ◽  
Cheng-Han Lin ◽  
Yao-Lung Kuo ◽  
Luo-Ping Ger ◽  
Hui-Chuan Cheng ◽  
...  

AbstractBrian metastasis, which is diagnosed in 30% of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients with metastasis, causes poor survival outcomes. Growing evidence has characterized miRNAs involving in breast cancer brain metastasis; however, currently, there is a lack of prognostic plasma-based indicator for brain metastasis. In this study, high level of miR-211 can act as brain metastatic prognostic marker in vivo. High miR-211 drives early and specific brain colonization through enhancing trans-blood–brain barrier (BBB) migration, BBB adherence, and stemness properties of tumor cells and causes poor survival in vivo. SOX11 and NGN2 are the downstream targets of miR-211 and negatively regulate miR-211-mediated TNBC brain metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Most importantly, high miR-211 is correlated with poor survival and brain metastasis in TNBC patients. Our findings suggest that miR-211 may be used as an indicator for TNBC brain metastasis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. eabc4897
Author(s):  
Catríona M. Dowling ◽  
Kate E. R. Hollinshead ◽  
Alessandra Di Grande ◽  
Justin Pritchard ◽  
Hua Zhang ◽  
...  

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer without a targeted form of therapy. Unfortunately, up to 70% of patients with TNBC develop resistance to treatment. A known contributor to chemoresistance is dysfunctional mitochondrial apoptosis signaling. We set up a phenotypic small-molecule screen to reveal vulnerabilities in TNBC cells that were independent of mitochondrial apoptosis. Using a functional genetic approach, we identified that a “hit” compound, BAS-2, had a potentially similar mechanism of action to histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDAC). An in vitro HDAC inhibitor assay confirmed that the compound selectively inhibited HDAC6. Using state-of-the-art acetylome mass spectrometry, we identified glycolytic substrates of HDAC6 in TNBC cells. We confirmed that inhibition or knockout of HDAC6 reduced glycolytic metabolism both in vitro and in vivo. Through a series of unbiased screening approaches, we have identified a previously unidentified role for HDAC6 in regulating glycolytic metabolism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yahui Ding ◽  
Xiaoping Chen ◽  
Can Liu ◽  
Weizhi Ge ◽  
Qin Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background TNBC is the most aggressive breast cancer with higher recurrence and mortality rate than other types of breast cancer. There is an urgent need for identification of therapeutic agents with unique mode of action for overcoming current challenges in TNBC treatment. Methods Different inhibitors were used to study the cell death manner of DMOCPTL. RNA silencing was used to evaluate the functions of GPX4 in ferroptosis and apoptosis of TNBC cells and functions of EGR1 in apoptosis. Immunohistochemical assay of tissue microarray were used for investigating correlation of GPX4 and EGR1 with TNBC. Computer-aided docking and small molecule probe were used for study the binding of DMOCPTL with GPX4. Results DMOCPTL, a derivative of natural product parthenolide, exhibited about 15-fold improvement comparing to that of the parent compound PTL for TNBC cells. The cell death manner assay showed that the anti-TNBC effect of DMOCPTL mainly by inducing ferroptosis and apoptosis through ubiquitination of GPX4. The probe of DMOCPTL assay indicated that DMOCPTL induced GPX4 ubiquitination by directly binding to GPX4 protein. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of inducing ferroptosis through ubiquitination of GPX4. Moreover, the mechanism of GPX4 regulation of apoptosis is still obscure. Here, we firstly reveal that GPX4 regulated mitochondria-mediated apoptosis through regulation of EGR1 in TNBC cells. Compound 13, the prodrug of DMOCPTL, effectively inhibited the growth of breast tumor and prolonged the lifespan of mice in vivo, and no obvious toxicity was observed. Conclusions These findings firstly revealed novel manner to induce ferroptosis through ubiquitination of GPX4 and provided mechanism for GPX4 inducing mitochondria-mediated apoptosis through up-regulation of EGR1 in TNBC cells. Moreover, compound 13 deserves further studies as a lead compound with novel mode of action for ultimate discovery of effective anti-TNBC drug.


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