Abstract
Abstract Resistance to apoptosis induced by anti-cancer drugs is a major obstacle for the treatment of aggressive forms of breast cancer. Galectin-7 was recently shown to be specifically expressed in basal-like and HER-2 positive but not in luminal subtypes of human breast cancer. Overexpression of galectin-7 in breast cancer cells also increases lung and bone metastases. However, the molecular mechanisms used by galectin-7 to increase the dissemination of breast cancer cells remain largely unknown. Although galectins are best known for their ability to bind cell surface receptors, there is increasing evidence that their intracellular forms have important functions in cancer cells. This is particularly true in the control of apoptosis. Up to now, regulation of apoptosis by intracellular galectins has been largely attributed to their ability to translocate to mitochondria, possibly following their interaction with bcl-2. Here, we report that a mutant of galectin-7 that is unable to translocate to mitochondria and nucleus induces resistance of human breast cancer cells to apoptosis induced by etoposide or by hypoxia-mimicking conditions. Surprisingly, this mutant and the wild-type form of galectin-7 bind equally well to bcl-2 in vitro and in vivo. Interestingly, both forms decreases the translocation of p53 to the nucleus and reduce the expression of p21 following treatment with doxorubicin. These results challenges the current paradigm that mitochondrial galectins are important for resistance to apoptosis and call for a greater focus on the role of cytosolic galectins in cancer cells. Our data also indicate that targeting cytosolic galectin-7 could improve the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs for the treatment of aggressive forms of breast cancer. Citation Format: Andrée-Anne Grosset, Donald Gagné, Marilyne Labrie, Maria Vladoiu, Louis Gaboury, Nicolas Doucet, Yves St-Pierre. Cytoplasmic galectin-7 has an antiapoptotic function by decreasing p53 nuclear translocation in breast cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1352. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1352
Published Version
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