We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




MicroRNA Linked to Breast Cancer Metastasis and Decreased Patient Survival

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 01 Jan 2013
Print article
Cancer researchers have identified a molecule that enhances the metastatic potential of breast cancers by promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition, migratory and invasive phenotypes, and by stimulating resistance to anoikis.

Anoikis is a form of programmed cell death that is induced by anchorage-dependent cells detaching from the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). Usually cells stay close to the tissue to which they belong since the communication between proximal cells as well as between cells and ECM provide essential signals for growth or survival. When cells are detached from the ECM, there is a loss of normal cell-matrix interactions, and they may undergo anoikis. However, metastatic tumor cells may escape from anoikis and invade other organs.

Investigators at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH, USA) attempted to recapitulate tumor and metastatic microenvironments by using biomechanically compliant or rigid 3-dimensional culture systems and combining them with global microRNA (miRNA) profiling analyses to identify miRNAs that were upregulated in metastatic breast cancer cells by TGF-beta (transforming growth factor-beta receptor 2). TGF-beta acts as an antiproliferative factor in normal epithelial cells and at early stages of cancer development. When a cell is transformed into a cancer cell, parts of the TGF-beta signaling pathway are mutated, and TGF-beta no longer controls the cell. These cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells (fibroblasts) begin to proliferate. Both types of cell increase their production of TGF-beta. This TGF-beta acts on the surrounding stromal cells, immune cells, endothelial and smooth muscle cells. It causes immunosuppression and angiogenesis, which makes the cancer more invasive.

The investigators reported in the December 17, 2012, online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation that expression of a specific miRNA, miR-181a, was dramatically and selectively upregulated in metastatic breast tumors, particularly triple-negative breast cancers, and was highly predictive for decreased overall survival in human breast cancer patients.

Mechanistically, inactivation of miR-181a elevated the expression of the pro-apoptotic molecule Bim, which sensitized metastatic cells to anoikis. MiR-181a expression was essential in driving metastatic outgrowth and enhancing the lethality of late-stage mammary tumors in mice.

“Overall, these findings reinforce our belief that the discovery of miR-181a will become a strong predictive biomarker for breast cancer metastasis, and that the high expression of miR-181a in tumor tissues will pave the way for the development of targeted therapies, better prognosis, and increased patient survival,” said senior author Dr. William Schiemann, associate professor of general medical sciences at Case Western Reserve University. “The identification of an RNA that regulates cell death may offer a natural molecule that can resensitize metastatic breast cancers to chemotherapy.”

Related Links:

Case Western Reserve University


Gold Member
Fully Automated Cell Density/Viability Analyzer
BioProfile FAST CDV
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Mumps Virus Test
ZEUS ELISA Mumps IgG Test System
New
Community-Acquired Pneumonia Test
RIDA UNITY CAP Bac

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The ready-to-use DUB enzyme assay kits accelerate routine DUB activity assays without compromising data quality (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Sensitive and Specific DUB Enzyme Assay Kits Require Minimal Setup Without Substrate Preparation

Ubiquitination and deubiquitination are two important physiological processes in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, responsible for protein degradation in cells. Deubiquitinating (DUB) enzymes contain around... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.