Abstract
IntroductionDespite intensive study of the mechanisms of chemotherapeutic drug resistance in human breast cancer, few reports have systematically investigated the mechanisms that underlie resistance to the chemotherapy-sensitizing agent tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Additionally, the relationship between TNF-α resistance mediated by MEK5/Erk5 signaling and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process associated with promotion of invasion, metastasis, and recurrence in breast cancer, has not previously been investigated.MethodsTo compare differences in the proteome of the TNF-α resistant MCF-7 breast cancer cell line MCF-7-MEK5 (in which TNF-α resistance is mediated by MEK5/Erk5 signaling) and its parental TNF-a sensitive MCF-7 cell line MCF-7-VEC, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and high performance capillary liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry approaches were used. Differential protein expression was verified at the transcriptional level using RT-PCR assays. An EMT phenotype was confirmed using immunofluorescence staining and gene expression analyses. A short hairpin RNA strategy targeting Erk5 was utilized to investigate the requirement for the MEK/Erk5 pathway in EMT.ResultsProteomic analyses and PCR assays were used to identify and confirm differential expression of proteins. In MCF-7-MEK5 versus MCF-7-VEC cells, vimentin (VIM), glutathione-S-transferase P (GSTP1), and creatine kinase B-type (CKB) were upregulated, and keratin 8 (KRT8), keratin 19 (KRT19) and glutathione-S-transferase Mu 3 (GSTM3) were downregulated. Morphology and immunofluorescence staining for E-cadherin and vimentin revealed an EMT phenotype in the MCF-7-MEK5 cells. Furthermore, EMT regulatory genes SNAI2 (slug), ZEB1 (δ-EF1), and N-cadherin (CDH2) were upregulated, whereas E-cadherin (CDH1) was downregulated in MCF-7-MEK5 cells versus MCF-7-VEC cells. RNA interference targeting of Erk5 reversed MEK5-mediated EMT gene expression.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that MEK5 over-expression promotes a TNF-α resistance phenotype associated with distinct proteomic changes (upregulation of VIM/vim, GSTP1/gstp1, and CKB/ckb; and downregulation of KRT8/krt8, KRT19/krt19, and GSTM3/gstm3). We further demonstrate that MEK5-mediated progression to an EMT phenotype is dependent upon intact Erk5 and associated with upregulation of SNAI2 and ZEB1 expression.
Highlights
Despite intensive study of the mechanisms of chemotherapeutic drug resistance in human breast cancer, few reports have systematically investigated the mechanisms that underlie resistance to the chemotherapy-sensitizing agent tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α
This study demonstrates that MEK5 overexpression promotes a TNF-α resistance phenotype associated with distinct proteomic changes
We further demonstrate that MEK5-mediated progression to an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype is dependent upon intact Erk5 and associated with upregulation of SNAI2 and ZEB1 expression
Summary
Despite intensive study of the mechanisms of chemotherapeutic drug resistance in human breast cancer, few reports have systematically investigated the mechanisms that underlie resistance to the chemotherapy-sensitizing agent tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Many other proteins – including glutathione-S-transferase [5], β2-microglobulin [6], heat shock protein (HSP)27 [7,8], 14-3-3σ [9,10], and vimentin [11] – have been implicated in breast cancer drug resistance. These findings were based upon studies using various chemoresistant breast cancer cell lines such as adriamycin, verapamil, tamoxifen, vinblastine, and paclitaxel resistant MCF-7 cells. Elucidating these drug resistance mechanisms is essential for improving tumor responses to clinical chemotherapies
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