Downregulation of annexin A3 inhibits tumor metastasis and decreases drug resistance in breast cancer

Cell Death Dis. 2018 Jan 26;9(2):126. doi: 10.1038/s41419-017-0143-z.

Abstract

Annexin A3 (ANXA3) is dysregulated and plays an important role in various cancers. However, the role of ANXA3 in breast cancer is still unclear. Here, we observed that the expression level of ANXA3 was significantly upregulated in breast cancer tissues. ANXA3 knockdown inhibited cell invasion but promoted cell proliferation in both in vitro and in vivo assays. Furthermore, we found that ANXA3 knockdown inhibited the NFκB pathway via upregulating IκBα, resulting in mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) and a heterogeneity change of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). In addition, we demonstrated that ANXA3 knockdown increased the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to doxorubicin by increasing the drug uptake. The combination of ANXA3 knockdown and doxorubicin treatment simultaneously inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. This study described the role and mechanisms of ANXA3 in regulating BCSCs and breast cancer growth and metastasis, indicating that downregulating ANXA3 together with chemotherapy might be a novel therapeutic strategy for treating breast cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Annexin A3 / genetics*
  • Annexin A3 / metabolism
  • Breast Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Down-Regulation / genetics*
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacology
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics*
  • Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Humans
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Nude
  • NF-kappa B / metabolism
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / pathology
  • Signal Transduction
  • Survival Analysis
  • Up-Regulation / genetics

Substances

  • NF-kappa B
  • Doxorubicin
  • Annexin A3