Bisphenol A increases the size of primary mammary tumors and promotes metastasis in a murine model of breast cancer

Abstract

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast tumor characterized for the absence of estrogen and progesterone receptors expression and low HER2/neu expression. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical with estrogenic activity that has been associated with increasing rates of breast cancer. Moreover, BPA is a solid organic synthetic chemical employed in the manufacture of many consumer products, epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics including baby bottles, containers for food and beverages, and the lining of beverage cans. The G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) is activated by endogenous hormones and synthetic ligands, such as BPA. GPER is expressed in TNBC cells and its expression is associated with larger tumor size, metastasis and worse survival prognosis. In breast cancer cells, BPA induces activation of signal transduction pathways that mediates migration and invasion via GPER in human TNBC MDA-MB-231 cells. In this study, we demonstrate that BPA induces an increase of GPER expression and its translocation from cytosol to cytoplasmic membrane, metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 secretion, migration and invasion in murine TNBC 4T1 cells. In a murine TNBC model “in vivo” using 4T1 cells, BPA induces the formation of mammary tumors with more weight and volume, and an increase in the number of mice with metastasis to lung and nodules in lung compared with tumors and metastasis to lung of untreated Balb/cJ mice. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that BPA mediates the growth of mammary primary tumors and metastasis to lung in a murine model of breast cancer.