The role of Caspase-1/GSDMD-mediated cell pyroptosis in anti-tumor effect of cisplatin in triple-negative breast cancer / 中华内分泌外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the role of Caspase-1/gasdermin D (GSDMD) -mediated cell pyroptosis in anti-tumor effect of cisplatin (DDP) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) .Methods:HE staining and immunohistochemical staining were performed to detect the morphological changes and the expression of pyroptosis/apoptosis pathway related proteins in TNBC tissues before and after DDP-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) . The TNBC cell line MDA-MB-231 was treated with DDP and the morphological changes were observed. The type of cell death induced by DDP was analyzed by Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining and flow cytometry. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay and ELISA were performed to detect the release of LDH and inflammatory factors (IL-18 and IL-1β) in cell culture supernatant after DDP treatment. Western blot (WB) was performed to detect the expression of pyroptosis/apoptosis pathway related proteins in cells after DDP treatment. MDA-MB-231 cells treated with DDP were co-treated with caspase-1 specific inhibitor to inhibit pyroptois or co-treated with caspase-3 specific inhibitor to inhibit apoptosis. The effect of caspase-1 inhibitor or caspase-3 inhibitor on the anti-tumor effect of DDP was detected by MTT assay, clone formation assay, transwell assay and would healing test.Results:Reactive changes in the breast surgical specimen after DDP-based NACT included cell swelling and inflammatory cell aggregation around the tumor bed, which were more similar to pyroptosis. The up-regulation of key molecules of pyroptosis pathway post-NACT was significantly higher than that of key molecules of apoptosis pathway. Further experiments in vitro showed that DDP could induce MDA-MB-231 cells to show pyroptosis-like changes characterized by large bubbles blowing from the cellular membrane. Flow-cytometry analyses showed that the death type of MDA-MB-231 cells caused by DDP was mainly Annexin V +PI + cells (mainly lytic cells, such as pyroptosis) . Additionally, DDP treatment induced significant activation of caspase-1 and GSDMD, increased the release of LDH, IL-18 and IL-1β, however, the activation level of caspase-3, which dominates the apoptosis pathway, was significantly lower than that of caspase-1/GSDMD. Moreover, caspase-1 inhibitors (blocking the classical pyroptosis pathway) had a significantly greater inhibitory effect on the anti-tumor effect of DDP than caspase-3 inhibitors (blocking the apoptosis pathway) . Conclusion:Caspase-1/GSDMD mediated pyroptosis may play a leading role in the anti-tumor effect of DDP in triple-negative breast cancer.