Hernández-Valencia Jorge, García-Villarreal Ruth, Rodríguez-Jiménez Manuel, Hernández-Avalos Alex Daniel, Rivero Ignacio A, Vique-Sánchez José Luis, Chimal-Vega Brenda, Pulido-Capiz Angel, García-González Victor
Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina Mexicali, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali 21100, Baja California, Mexico.
Laboratorio Multidisciplinario de Estudios Metabólicos y Cáncer, Facultad de Medicina Mexicali, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali 21100, Baja California, Mexico.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Apr 16;26(8):3763. doi: 10.3390/ijms26083763.
Resistance to HER2 tyrosine-kinase inhibitor Lapatinib (Lap) is one of the leading causes of cancer treatment failure in HER2+ breast cancer (BC), associated with an aggressive tumor phenotype. Cryptotanshinone (Cry) is a natural terpene molecule that could function as a chemosensitizer by disturbing estrogen receptor (ERα) signaling and inhibiting the protein translation factor-4A, eIF4A. Therefore, we evaluated Cry dual regulation on eIF4A and ERα. This study aimed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of Lap chemoresistance and the impact of Cry on them. We generated two Lap-resistant BT474 cell HER2+ variants named BT474 and BT474 with high chemoresistance levels, with 7- and 11-fold increases in EC, respectively, compared to BT474 parental cells. We found a PDCD4-p70S6Kβ axis association with Lap chemoresistance. However, a concomitant down-regulation of the RAF-MEK-ERK cell survival pathway and NF-κB was found in the chemoresistant cell variants; this phenomenon was exacerbated by joint treatment of Cry and Lap under a Lap plasmatic reported concentration. Optimized calcium management was identified as a compensatory mechanism contributing to chemoresistance, as determined by the higher expression of calcium pumps PMCA1/4 and SERCA2. Contrary to expectations, a combination of Lap and Cry did not affect the chemoresistance despite the ERα down-regulation; Cry-eIF4A binding possibly dampens this condition. Results indicated the pro-survival eIF4A/STAT/Bcl-xl pathway and that the down-regulation of the MAPK-NF-κB might function as an adaptive mechanism; this response may be compensated by calcium homeostasis in chemoresistance, highlighting new adaptations in HER2+ cells that lead to chemoresistance.
Breast Cancer Res. 2015-6-19
J Bioenerg Biomembr. 2024-6