Abstract 2059: Alcohol enhances estrogen-responsive breast cancer neovascularization

Abstract

Abstract The pleiotropic effects of estrogen in breast cancer development have been observed at both the initiation and progression phases. Interestingly, alcohol, as a dietary component, has been observed to possess estrogenic activity, but the synergistic interaction between alcohol and estrogen and its cellular targets remains undefined. Our previous study identified neovascularization as a cellular target of estrogen that was mediated by the mobilization of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (BM-EPCs) and their subsequent incorporation within the tumor mass. The present study was undertaken to define the synergistic interaction between estrogen and alcohol using a cell culture model. To examine the effects of both estrogen and alcohol on breast cancer progression, we developed an in vitro model using the murine mammary tumor cell line, TG1-1, and the murine endothelial cell line, SVEC4-10. Neovascularization was assayed by the tubulogenesis and scratch wound assays as well as quantitating the expression of various provasculogenic markers. Conditioned media, generated by culturing the murine mammary cancer cell line, TG1-1, in estrogen and ethanol, was observed to enhance tubule formation and migration of the murine endothelial cell line, SVEC4-10. In addition, the TG1-1 conditioned media enhanced the prosurvival MAP kinase-signaling pathway in SVEC4-10 cells. Presumably, the observed enhancement of both endothelial cell tubulogenesis and migration is in part attributed to provasculogenic proteins secreted by TG1-1 cells. In order to address this, Western blot analysis using TG1-1 cell lysates indicated an increase in VEGF, MMP-9, and eNOS expression in presence of alcohol and estrogen. As a whole, our data suggest that both estrogen and alcohol function to enhance expression of key provasculogenic molecules in breast cancer cells, which in turn modulates the morphologic, migratory, and survival properties of endothelial cells. Citation Format: Natalie C. Cruz, Rachana Maniyar, Robert Suriano. Alcohol enhances estrogen-responsive breast cancer neovascularization [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2059.