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Enhanced retinoid-induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by PKC inhibitors involves activation of ERK

Oncogene volume 23, pages 7053–7066 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Retinoids are vitamin A derivatives, which cause growth inhibition, differentiation and/or apoptosis in various cell types, including some breast cancer cells. In general, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive cells are retinoic acid (RA) sensitive, whereas ER-negative cells are resistant. In this report, we show that ER-negative MDA-MB-231 cells are strongly growth inhibited by retinoids in combination with a PKC inhibitor. While neither RA nor GF109203X (GF) has a significant growth inhibitory effect in these cells, RA+GF potently suppress proliferation. We found that RA+GF induce apoptosis, as shown by an increase in fragmented DNA, Annexin-V-positive cells and caspase-3 activation. Apoptosis was also induced by GF in combination with two synthetic retinoids. Expression of phosphorylated as well as total PKC was decreased by GF and this was potentiated by RA. In addition, treatment with GF caused a strong and sustained activation of ERK1/2 and p38-MAPK, as well as a weaker activation of JNK. Importantly, inhibition of ERK but not p38 or JNK suppressed apoptosis induced by RA+GF, indicating that activation of ERK is specifically required. In support of this novel finding, the ability of other PKC inhibitors to cause apoptosis in combination with RA correlates with ability to cause sustained activation of ERK.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative (CBCRI) and the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) Breast Cancer Research Program postdoctoral award no. DAMD17-03-1-0472.

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  1. Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, McGill University, 3755 Cote-Ste-Catherine Rd, Montreal, H3T 1E2, Quebec, Canada

    Filippa Pettersson, Marie-Claude Couture, Nessrine Hanna & Wilson H Miller Jr

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Pettersson, F., Couture, MC., Hanna, N. et al. Enhanced retinoid-induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by PKC inhibitors involves activation of ERK. Oncogene 23, 7053–7066 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1207956

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