Abstract
The majority of breast cancer deaths are because of ineffective treatment of metastatic disease. We previously identified a subpopulation of cells in human breast cancer cell lines that demonstrate high activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and high expression of CD44. These ALDHhiCD44+ cells displayed enhanced metastatic behavior in vitro and in vivo relative to ALDHlowCD44− cells. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that ALDHhiCD44+ breast cancer cells are more resistant to standard cancer therapy, and that inhibiting ALDH activity through all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) or the specific ALDH inhibitor diethylaminobenzaldehyde (DEAB) sensitizes these cells to treatment. ALDHhiCD44+ and ALDHlowCD44− populations were isolated from MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells lines and exposed to chemotherapy (doxorubicin/paclitaxel) or radiotherapy ± ATRA or DEAB. Cell populations were assessed for differences in survival, colony formation, and protein expression related to therapy resistance and differentiation. Significantly more ALDHhiCD44+ cells survived chemotherapy/radiotherapy relative to ALDHlowCD44− cells (P < 0.001). Glutathione-S-transferase pi, p-glycoprotein, and/or CHK1 were overexpressed in ALDHhiCD44+ populations compared with ALDHlowCD44− populations (P < 0.05). Pre-treatment of cell populations with DEAB or ATRA had no effect on ALDHlowCD44− cells, but resulted in significant initial sensitization of ALDHhiCD44+ cells to chemotherapy/radiotherapy. However, only DEAB had a long-term effect, resulting in reduced colony formation (P < 0.01). ATRA also significantly increased expression of CK8/18/19 in MDA-MB-468 ALDHhiCD44+ cells compared with control (P < 0.05). Our novel findings indicate that ALDHhiCD44+ breast cancer cells contribute to both chemotherapy and radiation resistance and suggest a much broader role for ALDH in treatment response than previously reported.
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Abbreviations
- 7-AAD:
-
7-Aminoactinomycin D
- αMEM:
-
α-Minimum essential media
- ALDH:
-
Aldehyde dehydrogenase
- APC:
-
Allophycocyanin
- APL:
-
Acute promyelocytic leukemia
- ATCC:
-
American type culture collection
- ATM:
-
Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated gene
- ATRA:
-
All trans retinoic acid
- CD:
-
Cluster of differentiation
- CDH1:
-
E-cadherin
- CDH2:
-
N-cadherin
- CHK1:
-
Checkpoint protein 1
- CHK2:
-
Checkpoint protein 2
- CK8/18/19:
-
Cytokeratin 8/18/19
- CP:
-
Cyclophosphamide
- DEAB:
-
Diethylaminobenzaldehyde
- DMEM:F12:
-
Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium/F12
- DNA:
-
Deoxyribonucleic acid
- ECL:
-
Enhanced chemiluminescence
- EMT:
-
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
- ER:
-
Estrogen receptor
- EtOH:
-
Ethanol
- FACS:
-
Fluorescence-activated cell sorting
- FBS:
-
Fetal bovine serum
- FITC:
-
Fluorescein isothiocyanate
- GSTpi:
-
Glutathione-S-transferase pi
- Gy:
-
Gray
- MCF-7:
-
Michigan Cancer Foundation-7
- MDA-MB:
-
MD Anderson-metastatic breast
- P-CHK1:
-
Phospho-checkpoint protein 1
- P-CHK2:
-
Phospho-checkpoint protein 2
- PE:
-
Phycoerytherin
- Pgp:
-
P-glycoprotein
- PMSF:
-
Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride
- PVDF:
-
Polyvinylidene fluoride
- P-YB1:
-
Phospho-Y-box binding protein
- RA:
-
Retinoic acid
- RARα:
-
Retinoic acid receptor-α
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- SDS-PAGE:
-
Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
- SEM:
-
Standard error of the mean
- STR:
-
Short tandem repeats
- TBST:
-
Tris-buffered saline + Tween-20
- YB1:
-
Y-box-binding protein
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Acknowledgments
We thank Kristin Chadwick for her invaluable advice and technical help with the FACS experiments. This work was supported in part by grants from the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research (#08NOV230), the Canada Foundation for Innovation (#13199), and the London Regional Cancer Program (to ALA). Alysha K. Croker is supported by a doctoral scholarship from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). Alison L. Allan is supported by a CIHR New Investigator Award and an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.
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Croker, A.K., Allan, A.L. Inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity reduces chemotherapy and radiation resistance of stem-like ALDHhiCD44+ human breast cancer cells. Breast Cancer Res Treat 133, 75–87 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1692-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1692-y