Inhibiting ROS-TFE3-dependent autophagy enhances the therapeutic response to metformin in breast cancer. (3rd August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tan, Miduo; Wu, Anshang; Liao, Ni; Liu, Min; Guo, Qiong; Yi, Jiansheng; Wang, Taoli; Huang, Yan; Qiu, Bo; Zhou, Wei
• Is Part Of: Free radical research. Volume 52:Number 8(2018)
• Page Start: 872
• Page End: 886
• Publication Date: 2018-08-03
• Subjects: Autophagy -- breast cancer -- metformin -- reactive oxygen species -- TFE3; Free radicals (Chemistry) -- Periodicals; Antioxidants -- Periodicals; Vitamin C -- Periodicals; Vitamin E -- Periodicals; 541.224
• DOI: 10.1080/10715762.2018.1485075
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1071-5762

Abstract

Abstract: Autophagy modulation is a potential therapeutic strategy for breast cancer, and a previous study indicated that metformin exhibits significant anti-carcinogenic activity. However, the ability of metformin to induce autophagy and its role in breast cancer cell death remains unclear. In this study, we exposed MCF-7 cells to different concentrations of metformin (2.5, 5, and 10 mM) for 48 h, and metformin-induced significant apoptosis in the MCF-7 cells. The expression levels of CL-PARP (poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1) and the ratio of BAX to BCL-2 were significantly increased. In addition to apoptosis, we showed that metformin increased autophagic flux in MCF-7 cells, as evidenced by the upregulation of LC3-II and downregulation of P62/SQSTM1. Moreover, pharmacological or genetic blocking of autophagy increased metformin-induced apoptosis, indicating a cytoprotective role of autophagy in metformin-treated MCF-7 cells. Mechanistically, metformin-induced TFE3 (Ser321) dephosphorylation activated TFE3 nuclear translocation and increased of TFE3 reporter activity, which contributed to lysosomal biogenesis and the expression of autophagy-related genes and, subsequently, initiated autophagy in MCF-7 cells. Importantly, we found that metformin triggered the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, N -acetyl-l -cysteine (NAC), a ROS scavenger, abrogated the effects of metformin on TFE3-dependent autophagy. Notably, TFE3 expression positively correlated with breast cancer development and poor prognosis in patients. Taken together, these data demonstrate that blocking ROS-TFE3-dependent autophagy to enhance the activity of metformin warrants further attention as a treatment strategy for breast cancer.