School of Pharmacy, Henan University, North Part of Jinming Road, Kaifeng, 475004, Henan, People's Republic of China.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 3;14(1):22988. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-71962-7.
Tamoxifen (TAM) resistance is a major challenge in treating oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers. It is possible that the HS synthase cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE), which has been previously shown to promote tumour growth and metastasis in other cancer cells, is involved in this resistance. Therefore, we investigated CSE's role and potential mechanisms in TAM-resistant breast cancer cells. First, we examined the effect of CSE expression on TAM sensitivity and resistance in MCF7 (breast cancer) cells. The findings revealed that CSE was directly associated with TAM sensitivity and involved in TAM resistance in ER+ breast cancer cells, indicating that it may be useful as a biomarker. Next, we wanted to determine the molecular mechanism of CSE's role in TAM resistance. Using cell migration, co-immunoprecipitation, western blotting, and cell viability assays, we determined that the CSE/H2S system can affect the expression of PPARγ by promoting the sulfhydrylation of PPARγ, which regulates the transcriptional activity of ACSL1. ACSL1, in turn, influences STAT3 activation by affecting the phosphorylation, palmitoylation and dimerization of STAT3, ultimately leading to the development of TAM resistance in breast cancer. Finally, we examined the effect of CSE inhibitors on reducing drug resistance to determine whether CSE may be used as a biomarker of TAM resistance. We observed that the novel CSE inhibitor I194496 can reverse TAM resistance in TAM-resistant breast cancer via targeting the PPARγ/ACSL1/STAT3 signalling pathway. Overall, our data indicate that CSE may serve as a biomarker of TAM resistance and that the CSE inhibitor I194496 is a promising candidate for combating TAM resistance.
他莫昔芬(TAM)耐药是治疗雌激素受体阳性(ER+)乳腺癌的主要挑战。先前的研究表明,半胱氨酸γ-裂解酶(CSE)可促进其他癌细胞的肿瘤生长和转移,它可能参与了这种耐药性。因此,我们研究了 CSE 在 TAM 耐药乳腺癌细胞中的作用和潜在机制。首先,我们研究了 CSE 表达对 MCF7(乳腺癌)细胞中 TAM 敏感性和耐药性的影响。结果表明,CSE 与 TAM 敏感性直接相关,并且参与 ER+乳腺癌细胞中的 TAM 耐药性,表明它可能作为生物标志物有用。接下来,我们想确定 CSE 在 TAM 耐药性中的作用的分子机制。通过细胞迁移、共免疫沉淀、Western blot 和细胞活力测定,我们确定 CSE/H2S 系统可以通过促进 PPARγ的巯基化来影响 PPARγ的表达,从而调节 ACSL1 的转录活性。ACSL1 反过来又通过影响 STAT3 的磷酸化、棕榈酰化和二聚化来影响 STAT3 的激活,最终导致乳腺癌中 TAM 耐药性的发展。最后,我们研究了 CSE 抑制剂对降低药物耐药性的影响,以确定 CSE 是否可作为 TAM 耐药性的生物标志物。我们观察到新型 CSE 抑制剂 I194496 通过靶向 PPARγ/ACSL1/STAT3 信号通路可以逆转 TAM 耐药性。总的来说,我们的数据表明 CSE 可能作为 TAM 耐药性的生物标志物,并且 CSE 抑制剂 I194496 是对抗 TAM 耐药性的有前途的候选药物。