Loss of constitutive ABCB1 expression in breast cancer associated with worse prognosis.

ABCB1 gene encodes an adenosine 5'-triphosphate-binding cassette transporter, which not only confers multidrug resistance phenotype in malignant cells, but is also present in several nonmalignant tissues. For the last thirty years, ABCB1 expression in breast cancer has been described by many authors, but the extent of expression differs among the studies, and there is no consensus regarding its potential role in carcinogenesis or in the tumor response to antineoplastic drugs. This study aimed to characterize the expression of ABCB1 in breast tumors as a function of genetic, clinical, and histopathological variables. The ABCB1 expression was also evaluated in nonmalignant mammary tissues adjacent to tumors and in benign lesions. The detection of ABCB1 protein was performed by immunohistochemistry in tissue specimens of excised breasts obtained from a prospective cohort of Brazilian women with breast cancer. The association of ABCB1 protein levels with ABCB1 mRNA, gene polymorphisms, and clinical and histopathological variables was also evaluated. The Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox regression analyses were conducted to identify independent predictors of disease-free survival of patients with breast cancer. ABCB1 was detected in 86.3% (656) of breast tumors, 98.8% (606) of nonmalignant mammary tissue adjacent to tumors, and 100% (28) of benign lesions. Reduced ABCB1 protein levels in breast tumors was associated with triple-negative subtype (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj] =0.24; 95% confidence interval [CI] =0.13-0.45), lymph node status < pN2 (ORadj =0.27; 95% CI =0.10-0.71), tumor size >2 cm (ORadj =0.55; 95% CI =0.32-0.93), and hypertensive status (ORadj =0.42; 95% CI =0.24-0.73), and it was significantly associated with shorter disease-free survival, either for all breast cancer patients (p log-rank =0.012; hazard ratio [HR] =3.46; 95% CI =1.21-9.91) or for those with triple-negative tumors (p log-rank =0.007; HR =11.41; 95% CI =1.29-100.67). The loss of constitutive ABCB1 expression in breast cancer, especially in triple-negative tumors, seems to indicate a subgroup of worse prognosis.

Prognostic evaluation of VEGFA genotypes and haplotypes in a cohort of Brazilian women with non metastatic breast cancer.

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) mediates angiogenesis, which is crucial for tumor development and progression. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of VEGFA gene polymorphisms rs699947, rs833061, rs1570360, rs2010963 and rs3025039 on breast cancer features and prognosis. A cohort of Brazilian women (N = 1038) with unilateral non-metastatic breast cancer was evaluated. The association between VEGFA polymorphisms and histopathological features or pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was evaluated by the Chi-square test, with calculation of the respective odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The impact of individual categories on disease-free survival was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models for calculation of adjusted hazard ratios (HRadjusted). Variant genotypes of rs699947 (CA + AA) were significantly associated with high-grade (G2 + G3) tumors (OR = 1.82; 95% CI = 1.15 - 2.89), and with shorter disease-free survival among patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by mastectomy (HRadjusted = 1.82; 95% CI = 1.16 - 2.86). Variant genotypes of rs833061 (TC + CC) were significantly associated with high-grade (G2 + G3) tumors (OR = 1.79; 95% CI = 1.12 - 2.84) and with positive lymph node status (OR = 1.34; 95% CI = 1.01 - 1.77), but showed no independent effect on disease-free survival. Variant haplotypes (*2 to *5) appear to favor pCR (OR = 7.1; 95% CI = 1.7 - 30.1). VEGFA genotyping may add to prognostic evaluation of breast cancer, with rs699947 being the most likely to contribute.

Effects of Angiotensin, vasopressin and aldosterone on proliferation of mcf-7 cells and their sensitivity to Doxorubicin.

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women and the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has been associated with breast tumor growth and metastasis. Inhibition of the RAS limits such effects and several efforts have been made to develop new inexpensive strategies for breast cancer treatment. We herein provide additional evidence that breast cancer chemotherapy can be influenced by losartan and PD123319, antagonists of angiotensin receptors AT1 and AT2, respectively. Perhaps the most important result was that this occurred without interfering with the expression or activity of the multidrug resistance-associated protein, ABCC1, which is associated with defensive cellular mechanisms. Moreover, they increased intracellular doxorubicin accumulation, which could increase cytotoxicity.

Modulation of ABCC1 and ABCG2 proteins by ouabain in human breast cancer cells.

ABCC1 and ABCG2 are two transporters associated with multi-drug resistance to cancer chemotherapy. Ouabain is a cardiotonic steroid, currently considered as a hormone associated with arterial hypertension. Previous studies have suggested that ouabain can modulate ABCB1 and ABCC1 expression in cancer and renal cell lines. The present study investigated the effects of physiological concentrations of ouabain on the expression and activity of ABCC1 and ABCG2 in two human breast cancer cell lines, MCF7 and MDA-MB-231, the first known to be responsive to estrogens. Cell viability and proliferation assays showed that 1 µM ouabain reduced proliferation of MCF7, but not if MDA-MB-231 cells. On the other hand, 10 nM ouabain increased proliferation of MDA-MB-231, but not of MCF7 cells. Ouabain (10 nM) prevented the cytotoxic effects of doxorubicin in MCF7 cells, but not in MDA-MB-231 cells. Treatment of cells under different ouabain concentrations for 24 h did not cause any significant effects in the expression of ABCG2 or ABCC1 in either cell line. However, the activity of ABCC1 was increased when MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were treated with 10 mM and 1 nM ouabain respectively. These results claim attention to the possibility that breast cancer patients with high levels of endogenous ouabain may have different responses to chemotherapy.

The role of KATP channels on propofol preconditioning in a cellular model of renal ischemia-reperfusion.

BACKGROUND: Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) has been shown to protect several organs, including the kidneys, from ischemia-reperfusion (I-R)-induced injury. Although propofol affects adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels in nonrenal tissues, it is still not clear by which mechanisms propofol protects renal cells from such damage. In this study, we investigated whether propofol induces renal preconditioning through renal K(ATP) channels. METHODS: A reversible ATP depletion (antimycin A) followed by restoration of substrate supply in LLC-PK1 cells was used as an in vitro model of renal I-R. Cell viability was assessed by dimethylthiazol-diphenyltetrazol bromide and trypan blue dye exclusion test assays. Apoptosis was evaluated by annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate staining by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence. Propofol treatments were initiated at various time intervals: 1 or 24 h before ischemia, only during ischemia, or only during reperfusion. To evaluate the mechanisms of propofol protection, specific K(ATP) channel inhibitors or activators were used in some experiments during propofol pretreatment. RESULTS: Propofol attenuated I-R injury on LLC-PK1 cells when present either 1 or 24 h before initiated I-R, and also during the recovery period, but not when added only during ischemia. Propofol pretreatment significantly protected LLC-PK1 from I-R-induced apoptosis. The protective effect of propofol was prevented by glibenclamide (a sarcolemmal ATP-dependent K(+) channel blocker) and decreased by 5-hydroxidecanoic acid (a mitochondrial ATP-dependent K(+) channel blocker), but it was not modified by diazoxide (a selective opener of ATP-sensitive K(+) channel). CONCLUSION: Propofol protected cells against apoptosis induced by I-R. This protection was probably due to a preconditioning effect of propofol and was, at least in part, mediated by K(ATP) channels.

Betulinic acid does not modulate the activity of P-gp/ABCB1 or MRP1/ABCC1 in a non-tumoral renal cell line: Possible utility in multidrug resistance cancer chemotherapy.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a multifactorial phenomenon considered to be the main cause of failure in cancer chemotherapy. One of the underlying mechanisms of MDR is the overexpression of membrane transporter proteins, such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp/ABCB1) and multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1/ABCC1). As these proteins are also expressed in normal tissues, considerable attention has been dedicated to the search for cytotoxic drugs that are not substrates for these proteins. This study investigated the effects of betulinic acid (BA) on the activity of ABCB1 and ABCC1 in Ma-104, a non-tumoral renal cell line constitutively expressing both proteins. The results indicated that concentrations of BA with low cytotoxicity to Ma-104 did not alter the activity of ABCB1 or ABCC1, nor did BA interfere with the accumulation of a classic chemotherapeutic, methotrexate. This suggests it would also be a good choice for use in drug cocktails. The lack of effect of BA on ABCB1 and ABCC1, as well as its antitumoral properties, suggest that this triterpene is a viable chemotherapeutic agent for MDR tumors.