Zoledronic acid overcomes chemoresistance by sensitizing cancer stem cells to apoptosis

WOS: 000432895500002PubMed ID: 29300112Unlike low tumorigenic bulk tumor cells (non-CSCs), cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subset of tumor cells that can self-renew and differentiate into different cancer subtypes. CSCs are considered responsible for tumor recurrence, distant metastasis, angiogenesis, and drug or radiation resistance. CSCs also are resistant to apoptosis. Zoledronic acid (ZA) is a third generation bisphosphonate that reduces cell proliferation and exhibits anti-tumor effects by inducing cell death in some malignancies; however, the effects of ZA on CSCs are unclear. We investigated the anti-cancer effects of ZA on two epithelial cancer cell lines, prostate DU-145 and breast MCF7, focusing primarily on induction and activation of apoptosis. Cluster of differentiation (CD) 133(+)/CD44(+) prostate CSCs and CD 44(+)/CD24 breast CSCs were isolated from the DU-145human prostate cancer and MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines, respectively, using FACSAria flow cytometry cell sorting. CSCs and non-CSCs were exposed to increasing concentrations of ZA for 24, 48 and 72h to determine the IC50 dose. Annexin-V assay for detecting cell death and cell cycle was performed using the Muse Cell Analyzer. Prostate CSCs and non-CSCs were assayed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) array for detecting 84 key apoptosis related genes. Gene regulation at the protein level was investigated by immunofluorescence. ZA caused a dose- and time-dependent decrease in cell viability. Treatment with ZA resulted in a concomitant increase in apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at S-phase in CSCs. Significant over/under-expressions were detected in seven of the genes of ZA-treated DU-145 CSCs cells. Expressions of CASP9, CASP4, BAX and BAD genes increased, while the expressions of BIRC3, BIRC2 and BCL2 genes decreased. In the DU-145 non-CSCs, five genes exhibited changes in gene expression after ZA treatment, two exhibited increased expression (CASP7 and BAD) and three exhibited decreased expression (BIRC3, BIRC2 and BCL2). ZA caused cell death of drug resistant breast MCF-7 and prostate DU-145 cancer stem cells by activating apoptosis. ZA can facilitate the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis in human prostate CSCs by down-regulating anti-apoptotic genes and up-regulating pro-apoptotic genes. ZA may be an effective therapeutic agent for targeting chemoresistance in CSCs

Targeting apoptosis resistance in cancer stem cells by the biphosphonate zoledronic acid

41st FEBS Congress on Molecular and Systems Biology for a Better Life -- SEP 03-08, 2016 -- Kusadasi, TURKEYWOS: 000383616900278FEB

Humanized Patient-derived xenograft models for developing personalized therapy against Small Cell Lung Cancer

[No Abstract Available

JAK/STAT pathway interacts with intercellular cell adhesion molecule (ICAM) and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM) while prostate cancer stem cells form tumor spheroids

PubMed ID: 26537072Purpose: JAK/STAT is an evolutionarily conserved pathway and very important for second messenger system. This pathway is important in malignant transformation and accumulated evidence indicates that this pathway is involved in tumorigenesis and progression of several cancers. It was possible to assume that activation of JAK/STAT pathway is associated with increase in the expressions of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. In this study we hypothesized that when cells were maintained as spheroids or monolayers, the structure of cancer stem cells (CSCs) could show differentiation when compared with non-CSCs. Methods: DU-145 human prostate cancer cells were cultured using the Ege University molecular embryology laboratory medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. Clusters of differentiation 133 (CD133)(+high)/CD44(+high) prostate CSCs were isolated from the DU145 cell line by using BD FACSAria. CD133+/CD44+ CSCs were cultured until confluent with 3% noble agar. The expression of these proteins in CSCs and non-CSCs was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Results: Different expression profiles were observed in the conventional two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) experimental model system when CSCs and non-CSCs were compared. Human prostate CSCs exhibited intense ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 immunoreaction when compared with non-CSCs. These findings were supported by the fact that VCAM-1 on the surface of cancer cells binds to its counterreceptor, the a4fil integrin (also known as very-late antigen, VLA-4), on metastasis-associated macrophages, triggering VCAM-1-mediated activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase growth and survival pathway in cancer cells. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that changes in JAK/STAT pathway are related with adhesion molecules and could affect cancer progression