Publications by authors named "Kuangfa Li"

Article Synopsis
  • Leptin, an adipokine from fat cells, enhances tumor metastasis in breast cancer through promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and is linked to key pathways like PI3K/AKT and PKM2.
  • The study analyzed various breast cancer cell lines to determine how leptin affects EMT and involved inhibitors and RNA interference to uncover the mechanisms behind this effect.
  • Results showed that leptin activation leads to increased PKM2 levels and EMT markers, and targeting PKM2 could be a potential strategy for breast cancer treatment due to its role in migration and invasion.
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This study aims to investigate the mechanisms underlying leptin-mediated crosstalk between tumor-associated macrophages (M2 macrophages) and breast cancer cells. THP1 human leukemic monocytes were induced to differentiate into M2 macrophages by PMA (100 nM) and IL-4 (20 ng/mL). Quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot revealed that leptin (100 nM) significantly increased the expression of leptin receptor (ObR) in the M2 macrophages (P < 0.

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In recent years, crosstalk between tumor microenvironment and cancer cells have received increasing attention. Accumulating research data suggests that leptin, a key adipokine secreted from adipocytes, plays important roles in breast cancer development. In our study, the effects of leptin on polarization of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and promotion of the invasiveness of tumor cells were investigated.

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Background Information: Previous studies have revealed that leptin may be involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a crucial initiator of cancer progression to facilitate metastatic cascade, increase tumor recurrence, and ultimately cause poor prognosis. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The aim of our present study was to investigate the effect of leptin on EMT of breast cancer cells and the underlying mechanism.

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Objective: To investigate the effect of interleukin-8 (IL-8) on the apoptosis of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and the molecular mechanism.

Methods: The expressions of IL-8 receptors (CXCR1, CXCR2) in MCF-7 cells were detected by Western blotting. The effects of 0, 20, 40, 80, 160 ng/mL IL-8 on the expressions of apoptosis-related genes Bcl-2 and caspase-3 in MCF-7 cells were observed by reverse transcription PCR(RT-PCR) and Western blotting.

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Objective: To investigate the effect and the relevant molecular mechanisms of leptin on the migration and invasion of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells.

Methods: The expression of OB-R in MCF-7 cells was measured by RT-PCR and Western blotting. The effects of leptin (100 ng/mL) on the the phosphorylation of a few key cell signaling proteins, p-ERK1/2, p-STAT3, p-AKT in MCF-7 cells were examined by Western blotting.

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