Metabolic plasticity enables cancer cells to switch between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation to adapt to changing conditions during cancer progression, whereas metabolic dependencies limit plasticity. To understand a role for the architectural environment in these processes we examined metabolic dependencies of cancer cells cultured in flat (2D) and organotypic (3D) environments. Here we show that cancer cells in flat cultures exist in a high energy state (oxidative phosphorylation), are glycolytic, and depend on glucose and glutamine for growth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mammary gland undergoes extensive expansion of a ductal network through the stroma during puberty and is an excellent model for understanding epithelial tube morphogenesis. To investigate a role for Numb, a multifaceted adapter protein, in epithelial tube morphogenesis, we conditionally deleted it from the mammary epithelium. We report that Numb-depletion results in altered extracellular-matrix organization, reduced cell tension, altered cell shape, and increased cell packing density, which results in a 50% reduction in mammary duct elongation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpithelial cancers (carcinoma) account for 80%-90% of all cancers. The development of carcinoma is associated with disrupted epithelial organization and solid ductal structures. The mechanisms underlying the morphological development of carcinoma are poorly understood, but it is thought that loss of cell polarity is an early event.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBreast Cancer (Dove Med Press)
June 2014
Breast cancer is a heterogeneous group of diseases that frequently exhibits loss of growth control, and disrupted tissue organization and differentiation. Several recent studies indicate that apical-basal polarity provides a tumor-suppressive function, and that disrupting polarity proteins affects many stages of breast cancer progression from initiation through metastasis. In this review we highlight some of the recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which loss of apical-basal polarity deregulates apoptosis, proliferation, and promotes invasion and metastasis in breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMelanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, which is notoriously aggressive and chemo-resistant, and for which there is little effective treatment available if it goes undetected. Curcumin from the turmeric spice (Curcuma longa) has long been used in Southeast Asian medicine to alleviate ailments and cure an array of diseases and disorders. It possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and most importantly anti-carcinogenic activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of the natural compound pancratistatin (PST), isolated from the Hymenocallis littoralis, in human melanoma cells. Melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer that is commonly fatal if not diagnosed in its early stage of development. Melanoma is resistant to many treatments, thus drastically limiting chemotherapy options for this cancer.
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