Search

// Maria Rosaria Ambrosio 1, * , Vittoria D’Esposito 1, * , Valerio Costa 2 , Domenico Liguoro 1 , Francesca Collina 3 , Monica Cantile 3 , Nella Prevete 1 , Carmela Passaro 1 , Giusy Mosca 1 , Michelino De Laurentiis 4 , Maurizio Di Bonito 3 , Gerardo Botti 3 , Renato Franco 5 , Francesco Beguinot 1 , Alfredo Ciccodicola 2, 6 and Pietro Formisano 1 1 Department of Translational Medicine, University of Naples “Federico II” & URT “Genomic of Diabetes” of Institute of Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology “G. Salvatore”, National Council of Research (CNR), Naples 80131, Italy 2 Institute of Genetic and Biophysics “A. Buzzati-Traverso”, CNR, Naples 80131, Italy 3 Pathology Unit, National Cancer Institute “G. Pascale Foundation”, Naples 80131, Italy 4 Department of Breast Surgery and Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute “G. Pascale Foundation”, Naples 80131, Italy 5 Pathology Unit, Universita degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples 80138, Italy 6 Department of Science and Technology, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Naples 80131, Italy * These authors have equally contributed to this work Correspondence to: Pietro Formisano, email: fpietro@unina.it Keywords: breast cancer; tamoxifen; glucose; adipose tissue; connective tissue growth factor Received: April 21, 2017 Accepted: July 25, 2017 Published: November 20, 2017 ABSTRACT Type 2 diabetes and obesity are negative prognostic factors in patients with breast cancer (BC). We found that sensitivity to tamoxifen was reduced by 2-fold by 25 mM glucose (High Glucose; HG) compared to 5.5 mM glucose (Low Glucose; LG) in MCF7 BC cells. Shifting from HG to LG ameliorated MCF7 cell responsiveness to tamoxifen. RNA-Sequencing of MCF7 BC cells revealed that cell cycle-related genes were mainly affected by glucose. Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF) was identified as a glucose-induced modulator of cell sensitivity to tamoxifen. Co-culturing MCF7 cells with human adipocytes exposed to HG, enhanced CTGF mRNA levels and reduced tamoxifen responsiveness of BC cells. Inhibition of adipocyte-released IL8 reverted these effects. Interestingly, CTGF immuno-detection in bioptic specimens from women with estrogen receptor positive (ER + ) BC correlated with hormone therapy resistance, distant metastases, reduced overall and disease-free survival. Thus, glucose affects tamoxifen responsiveness directly modulating CTGF in BC cells, and indirectly promoting IL8 release by adipocytes.

// Federica Liotti 1 , Maria De Pizzol 2 , Marcello Allegretti 2 , Nella Prevete 3, 4 , Rosa Marina Melillo 1, 4 1 Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy 2 Dompe Farmaceutici S.p.A., L’Aquila, Italy 3 Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Traslazionali, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy 4 Istituto di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale del CNR “G. Salvatore”, Naples, Italy Correspondence to: Rosa Marina Melillo, email: rosmelil@unina.it Nella Prevete, email: nella.prevete@unina.it Keywords: Reparixin, thyroid cancer, CXCR1, CXCR2 Received: October 19, 2016 Accepted: March 11, 2017 Published: March 21, 2017 ABSTRACT Background: Expression of IL-8 and its receptors CXCR1 and CXCR2 is a common occurrence in human epithelial thyroid cancer (TC). In human TC samples, IL-8 expression is associated with tumor progression. IL-8 enhances proliferation, survival, motility, and leads to the maintenance of stemness features and tumor-initiating ability of TC cells. Here, we studied the effects of Reparixin (formerly Repertaxin), a small molecular weight CXCR1 and CXCR2 inhibitor, on the malignant phenotype of various TC cell lines. Results: Reparixin impaired the viability of epithelial thyroid cancerous cells, but not that of the non-malignant counterpart. Reparixin treatment significantly decreased TC cell survival, proliferation, Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) and stemness. CXCR1 and CXCR2 silencing abolished these effects. Reparixin sensitized TC cells to Docetaxel and Doxorubicin in culture. Used as single agent, Reparixin significantly inhibited TC cell tumorigenicity in immunodeficient mice. Finally, Reparixin potentiated the effects of Docetaxel on TC cell xenotransplants in mice. Materials and Methods: We assessed the effects of Reparixin on TC cell viability (by growth curves, BrdU incorporation, TUNEL assay), EMT (by RT-PCR, Flow Cytometry, Migration assays), stemness (by RT-PCR, Flow Cytometry, sphere-formation and self-renewal), and tumorigenicity (by xenotransplantation in nude mice). Conclusions: The present study suggests that Reparixin, both alone and in combination with classic chemotherapics, represents a novel potential therapeutic strategy for aggressive forms of TC.