abstract

• Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are effective drugs that reduce or eliminate hormone sensitive breast cancer. However, despite their efficacy, resistance to these drugs can occur in some patients. The INrf2 (Keap1):Nrf2 complex serves as a sensor of drug/radiation-induced oxidative/electrophilic stress. INrf2 constitutively suppresses Nrf2 by functioning as an adapter protein for the Cul3/Rbx1-mediated ubiquitination/degradation of Nrf2. Upon stress, Nrf2 dissociates from INrf2, is stabilized, translocates to the nucleus, and coordinately induces a battery of cytoprotective gene expression. Current studies investigated the role of Nrf2 in AI resistance. RT-PCR and immunoblot assays showed that AI-resistant breast cancer LTLTCa and AnaR cells express lower INrf2 and higher Nrf2 protein levels, as compared to drug sensitive MCF-7Ca and AC1 cells, respectively. The increase in Nrf2 was due to lower ubiquitination/degradation of Nrf2 in AI-resistant cells. Higher Nrf2-mediated levels of biotransformation enzymes, drug-transporters and anti-apoptotic proteins contributed to reduced efficacy of drugs and aversion to apoptosis that led to drug resistance. shRNA inhibition of Nrf2 in LTLTCa (LTLTCa-Nrf2KD) cells reduced resistance and sensitized cells to AI exemestane. Interestingly, LTLTCa-Nrf2KD cells also showed reduced levels of aldehyde dehydrogenase, a marker of Tumor-Initiating Cells and significantly decreased mammosphere formation, as compared to LTLTCa-Vector control cells. The results together suggest that persistent AI treatment down-regulated INrf2 leading to higher expression of Nrf2 and Nrf2 regulated cytoprotective proteins that resulted in increased AI drug resistance. These findings provide a rationale for the development of Nrf2 inhibitors to overcome resistance and increase efficacy of AI.Copyright © 2015, American Association for Cancer Research.

authors

• Khatri, Raju
• Shah, Preeti
• Guha, Rupa
• Rassool, Feyruz V
• Tomkinson, Alan
• Brodie, Angela H
• Jaiswal, Anil K

publication date

• May 2015

published in

• Molecular cancer therapeutics  Journal

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.mct-14-0672

PubMed ID

• 25976679

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