Molecular analysis of Bcl-2 and cyclin D1 expression in differentially expressing estrogen receptor breast cancer MCF7, T47D and MDA-MB-468 cell lines treated with adriamycin

Abstract

Background and purpose of the study: Bcl-2 and Cyclin D1 (CCND1) are key elements in cancer development and progression. Bcl-2 acts as a cell death suppressor and is involved in apoptosis regulation. Cyclin D1 is an important regulator of G1/S phase of the cell cycle progression. In addition, estrogen receptor (ER) is an important prognostic factor in breast cancer cells. Therefore it is important to determine the Bcl-2 and CCND1 expression in MCF7, T47D and MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cell lines with different ER status following Adriamycin (ADR) treatment.

Methods: Cytotoxicity of ADR (250 and 500nM) after 1-5 days exposure of the cell lines was evaluated by MTT assay. The mRNA and protein levels of Bcl-2 and cyclin D1 in tested cell lines were also analyzed by RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry (ICC) methods.

Results: ADR cytotoxicity was highest in MDA-MB-468 and lowest in MCF7 cells in a time-dependent manner. Bcl-2 mRNA increased in MCF7 and decreased in MDA-MB-468 after exposure to ADR but it was less detectable in T47D cells. The expression of CCND1 in MCF7 with high level of ER expression was higher than the other two cell lines in untreated conditions. However, CCND1 mRNA did not show significant changes after ADR treatment. Immunocytochemical analysis did not show significant differences between Bcl-2 protein expression in the presence or absence of ADR in MDA-MB-468 cell line while in T47D and MCF7 cells its expression decreased after exposure to ADR. In addition to nuclear expression of cyclin D1 in all cell lines, strong cytoplasmic expression of cyclin D1 protein was observed only in MCF7 and T47D cells.

Conclusion: The tested cell lines with different levels of ER expression showed differential molecular responses to ADR that is important in tumor-targeted cancer therapy.