Chronic oxidative stress causes estrogen-independent aggressive phenotype, and epigenetic inactivation of estrogen receptor alpha in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Abstract

The role of chronic oxidative stress in the development and aggressive growth of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer is well known; however, the mechanistic understanding is not clear. Estrogen-independent growth is one of the features of aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of oxidative stress on estrogen sensitivity and expression of nuclear estrogen receptors in ER-positive breast cancer cells. MCF-7 cells chronically exposed to hydrogen peroxide were used as a cell model in this study, and their growth in response to 17-β estradiol was evaluated by cell viability, cell cycle, and cell migration analysis. Results were further confirmed at molecular level by analysis of gene expressions at transcript and protein levels. Histone H3 modifications, expression of epigenetic regulatory genes, and the effect of DNA demethylation were also analyzed. Loss of growth in response to estrogen with a decrease in ERα expression was observed in MCF-7 cells adapted to chronic oxidative stress. Increases in mtTFA and NRF1 in these cells further suggested the role of mitochondria-dependent redox-sensitive growth signaling as an alternative pathway to estrogen-dependent growth. Changes in expression of epigenetic regulatory genes, levels of histone H3 modifications as well as significant restorations of both ERα expression and estrogen response by 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine further confirmed the epigenetic basis for estrogen-independent growth in these cells. In conclusion, results of this study suggest that chronic oxidative stress can convert estrogen-dependent nonaggressive breast cancer cells into estrogen-independent aggressive form potentially by epigenetic mechanism.