Project description:Tamoxifen is the most widely administered adjuvant first-line hormone therapy for Estrogen receptor α (ERα) positive breast cancer patients. However, one from three patients will develop resistance, while the underlying molecular mechanisms are currently unclear. Recent studies reported that abnormal expression of miRNAs played a role in cancer progress. To study the potential function of miRNAs in tamoxifen resistance, Affymetrix GeneChip® miRNA 3.0 microarray was employed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs between tamoxifen sensitive MCF7 parent (MCF7-Pa) cells and induced resistant (MCF7-Re) cells.
Project description:The overarching goal of this study was to explore the antitumor activity of Z-endoxifen, a tamoxifen metabolite, with first-line endocrine therapies tamoxifen and letrozole in the letrozole-sensitive MCF7 aromatase expressing model (MCF7AC1), and with second-line endocrine therapies including tamoxifen, fulvestrant, exemestane, and exemestane plus everolimus, in letrozole-resistant MCF7 model (MCF7LR) in vivo. We used microarray to identify genes that are commonly and differently reguated by Z-endoxifen and tamoxifen treatments in the letrozole-resistant MCF7LR tumors.
Project description:Purpose: The present study provides the firstly large-scale characterization of miRNAs in Tetranychus cinnabarinus and the comparison between fenpropathrin resistant and susceptible strains gives a clue on study how miRNA involving in fenpropathrin resistance Methods: Using Illumina sequencing to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs between the fenpropathrin resistant and susceptible strains of Tetranychus cinnabarinus Results: 12 miRNAs that were expressed significantly differently were identified between thethe fenpropathrin resistant and susceptible strains of Tetranychus cinnabarinus
Project description:Resistance to tamoxifen in breast cancer patients is a serious therapeutic problem and major efforts are underway to understand underlying mechanisms. Resistance can be either intrinsic or acquired. We derived a series of subcloned MCF7 cell lines that were either highly sensitive or naturally resistant to tamoxifen and studied the factors that lead to drug resistance. Gene-expression studies revealed a signature of 67 genes that differentially respond to tamoxifen in sensitive vs. resistant subclones, which also predicts disease-free survival in tamoxifen-treated patients. High-throughput cell-based screens, in which >500 human kinases were independently ectopically expressed, identified 31 kinases that conferred drug resistance on sensitive cells. One of these, HSPB8, was also in the expression signature and, by itself, predicted poor clinical outcome in one cohort of patients. Further studies revealed that HSPB8 protected MCF7 cells from tamoxifen and blocked autophagy. Moreover, silencing HSBP8 induced autophagy and caused cell death. Tamoxifen itself induced autophagy in sensitive cells but not in resistant ones, and tamoxifen-resistant cells were sensitive to the induction of autophagy by other drugs. These results may point to an important role for autophagy in the sensitivity to tamoxifen.
Project description:Tamoxifen, an antagonist to estrogen receptor (ER), is a first line drug used in breast cancer treatment. However, this therapy is complicated by the fact that a substantial number of patients exhibit either de novo or acquired resistance. To characterize the signaling mechanisms underlying the resistance to tamoxifen, we established a tamoxifen-resistant cell line by treating the MCF7 breast cancer cell line with tamoxifen for over 6 months. We showed that this cell line exhibited resistance to tamoxifen both in vitro and in vivo. In order to quantify the phosphorylation alterations associated with tamoxifen resistance, we performed SILAC-based quantitative phosphoproteomic profiling on the resistant and vehicle-treated sensitive cell lines where we identified >5,600 unique phosphopeptides. We found phosphorylation levels of 1,529 peptides were increased (>2 fold) and 409 peptides were decreased (<0.5-fold) in tamoxifen resistant cells compared to tamoxifen sensitive cells. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that focal adhesion pathway was the top enriched signaling pathway activated in tamoxifen resistant cells. We observed hyperphosphorylation of the focal adhesion kinases FAK1 and FAK2 in the tamoxifen resistant cells. Of note, FAK2 was not only hyperphosphorylated but also transcriptionally upregulated in tamoxifen resistant cells. Suppression of FAK2 by specific siRNA knockdown could sensitize the resistant cells to the treatment of tamoxifen. We further showed that inhibiting FAK activity using the small molecule inhibitor PF562271 repressed cellular proliferation in vitro and tumor formation in vivo. More importantly, our survival analysis revealed that high expression of FAK2 significantly associated with short metastasis-free survival of ER-positive breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen-based hormone therapy. Our studies suggest that FAK2 is a great potential target for the development of therapy for the treatment of hormone refractory breast cancers.