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Etoposide, an anticancer DNA topoisomerase II poison, plays an important role in the therapy for human cancers. Unfortunately, many cancers develop etoposide resistance and do not respond to chemotherapy, leading to difficulty in treatment and poor prognosis. In this study, we investigate the effects of HBXIP gene silencing on etoposide chemosensitivity in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. We find that etoposide increases HBXIP expression and promotes mobilization of HBXIP to the nucleus in MCF-7 cells. Knockdown of HBXIP alleviates etoposide-induced G2/M or S phase arrest. Upregulation of p53 and p21 upon etoposide treatment is attenuated in HBXIP knock-down cells. Moreover, HBXIP gene silencing sensitizes etoposide-induced cell apoptosis and cleavage of caspase-9 and PARP in MCF-7 cells. Knockdown of HBXIP expression by RNAi abrogates the etoposide-activated ERK and Akt. These results indicate that HBXIP can modulate the etoposide sensitivity of MCF-7 cell lines and further implicate HBXIP as a target for human breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: It has been reported that stem cells are able to home to tumorigenesis and inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells. The purpose of our study was to demonstrate the molecular mechanism of the inhibitory proliferation of hepatoma cells and breast cancer cells mediated by human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs)., Methods: The proliferation of H7402 human hepatoma cells and MCF-7 human breast cancer cells was measured by the 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assay and flow cytometry assay after the treatment with conditioned media from hMSCs culture, such as Z3 cells or BMMS-03 cells. The role of NF-kappaB or the phosphorylation of inhibitor kappaBalpha (p-IkappaBalpha) in the depression of hepatoma or breast cancer cells treated with conditioned media from Z3 cells or BMMS-03 cells was examined by reporter gene assay, quantitative real-time PCR, and Western blot analysis, respectively., Results: The proliferation of H7402 cells and MCF-7 cells was decreased significantly by the BrdU incorporation assay and flow cytometry assay after treatment. The transcriptional activity and mRNA level of NF-kappaB were downregulated in the treated cells by reporter gene assay and quantitative real-time PCR in a dose-dependent manner. At the protein level, NF-kappaB and p-IkappaBalpha decreased in the treated cells by Western blot analysis., Conclusion: Conditioned media from hMSCs are able to inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells. NF-kappaB downregulation is one of reasons for the depression of tumor cell proliferation mediated by hMSCs.