The Drosophila lymph gland houses blood progenitors that give rise to myeloid-like blood cells. Initially, blood progenitors proliferate, but later, they become quiescent to maintain multipotency before differentiation. Despite the identification of various factors involved in multipotency maintenance, the cellular mechanism controlling blood progenitor quiescence remains elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCysteine-rich angiogenic inducer 61 (CYR61) is a protein from the CCN family of matricellular proteins that play diverse regulatory roles in the extracellular matrix. CYR61 is involved in cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and senescence. Here, we show that CYR61 induces chemoresistance in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain type of creatine kinase (CKB) regulates energy homeostasis by reversibly transferring phosphate groups between phosphocreatine and ATP at sites of high energy demand. Several types of cancer cells exhibit upregulated CKB expression, but the function of CKB in cancer cells remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the function of CKB in breast cancer by overexpressing CKB in MDA-MB-231 cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbout 70% of breast cancers overexpress estrogen receptor α (ERα, encoded by ESR1). Tamoxifen, a competitive inhibitor of estrogen that binds to ER, has been widely used as a treatment for ER-positive breast cancer. However, 20-30% of breast cancer is resistant to tamoxifen treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConnective tissue growth factor (CTGF), also known as CCN2, is a member of the CCN protein family of secreted proteins with roles in diverse biological processes. CTGF regulates biological functions such as cell proliferation, migration, adhesion, wound healing, and angiogenesis. In this study, we demonstrate a mechanistic link between CTGF and enhanced aerobic glycolysis in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCluster of differentiation 133 (CD133) is a transmembrane glycoprotein that has been reported as a marker of cancer stem cells or cancer-initiating cells in various cancers. However, its contribution to tumorigenesis and differentiation remains to be elucidated. To determine the role of CD133 in colon cancer, we silenced CD133 in human colon cancer cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhthalates are mainly used as binders and plasticizers in various industrial products including detergents, surfactants, waxes, paints, pharmaceuticals, food products, and cosmetics. However, they have been reported to be endocrine disruptors, which are chemicals that can mimic or disturb endocrines, causing interference to the endocrine system. Recently, there have been numerous reports showing that phthalates have negative health impacts such as asthma, breast cancer, obesity, type II diabetes, and male infertility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTitanium dioxide nanoparticles, due to their smaller size and increased surface area comparted to the bulk form, are known to be bioreactive and have unexpected toxicological outcomes. Previous studies have shown that nanoscale titanium dioxide induces reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. Although many reports have discussed the ROS-mediated cytotoxic effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs), their effects on the receptor-ligand association are unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe CCN protein family is composed of six matricellular proteins, which serve regulatory roles rather than structural roles in the extracellular matrix. First identified as secreted proteins which are induced by oncogenes, the acronym CCN came from the names of the first three members: CYR61, CTGF, and NOV. All six members of the CCN family consist of four cysteine-rich modular domains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBisphenol-A (BPA) was first synthesized in the 1890s and has been used in many plastic products. However, BPA is known to act as an endocrine disruptor and has been found to be toxic to human health. Many alternative substances have been developed to replace BPA, but it is still widely used worldwide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aim: Silica nanoparticles (nano-SiO) are widely used in many industrial areas and there is much controversy surrounding cytotoxic effects of such nanoparticles. In order to determine the toxicity and possible molecular mechanisms involved, we conducted several tests with two breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and Hs578T.
Materials And Methods: After exposure to nano-SiO, growth, apoptosis, motility of breast cancer cells were monitored.
Galectin-1 is a β-galactoside binding protein secreted by many types of aggressive cancer cells. Although many studies have focused on the role of galectin-1 in cancer progression, relatively little attention has been paid to galectin-1 as an extracellular therapeutic target. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying galectin-1-mediated cancer progression, we established galectin-1 knock-down cells via retroviral delivery of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against galectin-1 in two triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and Hs578T.
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