Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0006142 (breast cancer)
 160,383 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

There is much evidence that tumour glutathione (GSH) concentration is an important factor in resistance to cancer chemotherapy. Since measurement of tumour GSH would require an invasive procedure in every patient, we have tried to find out whether GSH concentrations in peripheral-blood erythrocytes are related to the response to chemotherapy and thus whether they reflect those in tumour cells. Erythrocyte GSH concentrations were measured by spectrophotometry in peripheral blood from 28 patients with advanced breast cancer and 40 patients with other tumours before and after treatment with various conventional chemotherapeutic regimens. The mean pretreatment GSH concentration was lower in patients who showed a complete or partial response to chemotherapy than in those with stable or progressive disease in both the breast-cancer group (8.69 [95% confidence interval 5.99-11.39] vs 2.32 [1.23-3.41] mumol/g haemoglobin; p less than 0.01) and the group with other tumours (5.94 [4.14-7.74] vs 2.83 [1.71-3.95] mumol/g; p less than 0.01). The correlation of erythrocyte GSH concentration with response rate suggests that this measurement may be helpful in prediction of response to therapy.
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PMID:Erythrocyte glutathione and tumour response to chemotherapy. 134 3

Hepsulfam (NSC 329680, 1,7-heptanediol disulfamate) is an alkylating agent that showed excellent activity against mouse and human mammary carcinoma in preclinical studies. We therefore studied the cytotoxicity of this drug in six human breast cancer cell lines (AdrRMCF7, WTMCF7, Hs578T, MDA-MB-231, T47D, and MDA-MB-468). Clonogenic assays of these cell lines showed a range of sensitivity with the 90% inhibitory concentration ranging from 3.1 microM hepsulfam (MDA-MB-468) to 32.3 microM hepsulfam (AdrRMCF7) after 24-h exposure to the drug. To evaluate possible mechanisms responsible for this observed variation in sensitivity to hepsulfam, we have studied glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity and glutathione (GSH) in these cell lines. Total cytoplasmic GST activity correlated with sensitivity; the most sensitive cell lines had the lowest GST activity, while the two most resistant cell lines, AdrRMCF7 and Hs578T, had the highest GST levels of the six cell lines. Western blot analysis showed that the only detectable isoenzyme was GST-pi. The amount of GST-pi isoform correlated with hepsulfam sensitivity in the three most resistant cell lines and was undetectable in the three most sensitive cell lines. Cellular concentrations of GSH did not correlate with hepsulfam sensitivity. However, GSH depletion with buthionine sulfoximine increased sensitivity to hepsulfam in a dose-dependent fashion in all six cell lines. Evaluation by mass spectrometry revealed that glutathione can form conjugates with hepsulfam. We conclude that the GST/GSH detoxication system plays a role in the sensitivity of these breast cancer cell lines to hepsulfam.
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PMID:Hepsulfam sensitivity in human breast cancer cell lines: the role of glutathione and glutathione S-transferase in resistance. 154 Sep 50

The absence of estrogen receptors (ER) in human breast tumors has been associated with a poorer prognosis compared to patients with ER positive breast cancer. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that a multidrug resistant human breast cancer cell line selected for resistance to Adriamycin (ADR) exhibited markedly increased expression of both the pi class glutathione S-transferase (GST-pi) and the selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase. These studies also revealed that the ER status was inversely related to the expression of GST-pi in six human breast cancer cell lines and primary tumor specimens. In the present study, we have examined the relationship between ER status and several biological properties of these cells, including their levels of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase expression, their capacity to generate toxic hydroxyl radicals (degrees OH) by redox cycling of ADR, and their sensitivities to the cytotoxic effects of ADR and the oxidant, H2O2. Our results show that expression of GSH-Px, but not catalase, is inversely related to the ER status in these cell lines. Formation of the degree OH induced by treatment of cells with ADR was inversely proportional to the GSH-Px activity in these cell lines, and thus directly related to the ER status. Sensitivity of these cells to ADR or to H2O2, however, was not consistently related to ER status, GSH-Px, or catalase activity, or to ADR induced degree OH radical formation. These results indicate that these parameters are not predictive of cellular susceptibility to oxidative damage in these cell lines under the conditions studied.
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PMID:Selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase expression is inversely related to estrogen receptor content of human breast cancer cells. 165 87

An Adriamycin-resistant subline of a human breast cancer cell line, MCF-7 ADRR, has been shown to exhibit radioresistance associated with an increase in the size of the shoulder on the radiation survival curve. In the present study, damage to DNA of MCF-7 sublines WT and ADRR by 60Co gamma radiation was measured by filter elution techniques. The initial amount of DNA damage, measured by both alkaline and neutral filter elution, was lower in ADRR cells, suggesting that these cells are resistant to radiation-induced single- and double-strand DNA breaks. In the case of double-strand breaks the difference between WT and ADRR cells was significant only at the lower radiation doses studied (up to 100 Gy). In cells depleted of glutathione (GSH) by L-buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) treatment, ADRR cells were sensitized to radiation-induced DNA damage, while WT cells were unaffected. The rate of repair of single- and double-strand DNA breaks following radiation was the same for both sublines, and repair of radiation damage was not affected by BSO treatment in either cell line. The relative resistance of ADRR cells to initial DNA damage by radiation is the only difference so far detected at the molecular level which reflects radiation survival, and it is possible that other factors are involved in the resistance of ADRR cells to killing by radiation. Sensitization of ADRR cells to radiation-induced DNA damage by GSH depletion, although not likely to involve inhibition of GSH-dependent detoxification enzymes per se (irradiation was done at 4 degrees C), suggests that at the molecular level radioresponse in this subline is related to maintenance of GSH/GSSG redox equilibrium.
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PMID:Radiation-induced damage to DNA in drug- and radiation-resistant sublines of a human breast cancer cell line. 172 55

Recent prospective epidemiological studies have shown an association between a low prediagnostic serum selenium (Se) concentration and the risk of cancer. Se concentrations in whole blood and plasma, and the activity of red cell and plasma glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were measured in patients with breast cancer, gastric cancer and colorectal cancer. The observed whole blood and plasma Se concentrations of healthy persons were 99.5 and 78.5 micrograms/L, respectively. Red cell and plasma GSH-Px activities of this group were: 21.0 U/g Hb and 256 U/L plasma. In all investigated cancer patients significantly lower whole blood and plasma Se concentrations, and significantly lower red cell and plasma GSH-Px activities were found, as compared with the values of healthy controls. Low Se concentrations of blood components may be indicative of increased cancer risk.
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PMID:Blood selenium concentrations and glutathione peroxidase activities in patients with breast cancer and with advanced gastrointestinal cancer. 182 38

Resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic drugs may be due to several mechanisms within a single cell line. Resistance to doxorubicin in the human multidrug resistant breast cancer cell line, MCF-7 AdrR, has been attributed to increased glutathione (GSH) S-transferase and GSH peroxidase activity, as well as to increased expression of the mdr1 gene product, P-glycoprotein. We studied the potentiation of doxorubicin activity in these cells by buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, and by verapamil and trans-flupenthixol, agents which interact with P-glycoprotein. Treatment with BSO enhanced the effect of doxorubicin by 1.5-fold, while verapamil or transflupenthixol caused a greater reversal of drug resistance. The combination of BSO with trans-flupenthixol produced no further potentiation of doxorubicin activity. However, the combination of BSO with verapamil and doxorubicin caused up to a 10-fold increment in antiproliferative effect. To explore the mechanism by which BSO interacted with this drug combination, we determined whether or not BSO might potentiate the effects of verapamil. These studies demonstrated that the effects of BSO were predominantly due to an increase in verapamil toxicity rather than to doxorubicin toxicity. In addition, when mice received concentrations of BSO in their drinking water sufficient to deplete GSH and were treated with verapamil, the calcium channel blocker was lethal to 9 of 12 mice receiving BSO compared to 1 of 10 control animals receiving verapamil alone. These studies demonstrate that BSO does not markedly increase the pharmacological effect of doxorubicin against MCF-7 AdrR cells and suggest that alterations in GSH and related enzymes are not a major factor in drug resistance in this cell line. Furthermore, BSO can increase the toxicity of verapamil, a finding which may have important implications for clinical trials.
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PMID:Effect of buthionine sulfoximine on toxicity of verapamil and doxorubicin to multidrug resistant cells and to mice. 198 8

The effects of GSH depletion in a human breast cancer cell line and a multi-drug resistant subline (ADRr) were determined in a number of experimental conditions. The ADRr cells contained lower GSH concentration which cannot be explained solely on the basis of differences in cell kinetics, and yet the rate-limiting synthetic enzyme gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase was increased 2-fold. Inhibition of GSH synthesis by BSO resulted in more rapid and more pronounced GSH depletion in ADRr compared to the wild-type cells, suggesting that enhanced GSH utilization and efflux in the resistant cells account for the lowered basal concentration. In addition, the gamma-glutamyl moiety salvage enzyme gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase was reduced markedly in the ADRr cell line. Since these cells have overexpression of the efflux pump protein P-glycoprotein, we examined the effects on cellular GSH of inhibition of the pump's function by verapamil. We found that verapamil significantly depleted cellular GSH. In a rat mammary carcinoma cell line selected in Adriamycin for multi-drug resistance, a similar molecular phenotype has been described including diminished cellular GSH concentration. Verapamil treatment of these cells also resulted in significant depletion of cellular GSH. These results are consistent with the recent report that combined treatment of BSO and verapamil has an additive effect on cytotoxicity. It is likely that decreased basal GSH concentration is due to oxidation and conjugation of it in reactions catalyzed by the enhanced peroxidase and GST found in these cells.
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PMID:Glutathione depletion in human and in rat multi-drug resistant breast cancer cell lines. 199 9

Two drug-resistant variants of the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 have been shown previously to exhibit radiation resistance associated with an increase in the size of the shoulder on the radiation survival curve. In the present study, glutathione (GSH) depletion was achieved by exposure of cells to buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) with, in some cases, additional treatment with dimethyl fumarate. Levels of GSH in the adriamycin-resistant subline MCF-7 ADRR are initially lower than in the other two sublines and are depleted to a greater extent by exposure to BSO. Wild-type MCF-7 cells are not sensitized by GSH depletion when irradiated under aerated conditions but are sensitized under hypoxic conditions to an extent which is related to the level of GSH depletion. In contrast both the drug-resistant sublines (MCF-7 ADRR and the melphalan-resistant line MCF-7 MLNR) are radiosensitized by GSH depletion under both aerated and hypoxic conditions. It is hypothesized that in the case of the MCF-7 ADRR cell line, which expresses high levels of the GSH-associated redox enzyme systems, GSH-S-transferase and GSH-peroxidase (GSH-Px), radiosensitization results when GSH-Px is inhibited in GSH-depleted cells. The reasons for radiosensitization of aerated MCF-7 MLNR cells cannot be explained on this basis, however, and other factors are being examined.
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PMID:Radiation response of drug-resistant variants of a human breast cancer cell line: the effect of glutathione depletion. 224 1

Resistance to antineoplastic drugs is a major problem in the clinical management of cancer. Previous studies have demonstrated that the cytotoxicity of certain anticancer drugs is increased by lowering the glutathione (GSH) levels with buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase. In this study we report that the resistance to doxorubicin, an anthracycline antibiotic and the most active agent in the treatment of breast cancer, can be partially reversed by exposing MCF-7 doxorubicin-resistant breast tumor cells (MCF-7/ADRR) to minimally cytotoxic doses of BSO. We found that the BSO treatment (50 microM, 48 h) of MCF-7/ADRR cells resulted in 80 to 90% depletion in total GSH concentrations. The toxicity of doxorubicin, as determined by growth inhibition and clonogenic assays, was significantly potentiated in the BSO-treated GSH-depleted cells relative to control breast tumor cells, and a dose-modifying factor of 5 to 7 was observed. Since the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin has been associated with its ability to undergo enzymatic activation and to form hydroxyl (OH) radicals in this cell line, we also quantitated the OH formation in the BSO-treated and untreated MCF-7/ADRR cells using electron spin resonance spintrapping techniques. These results show that doxorubicin stimulated at least 2-fold more OH formation in the tumor cells after GSH levels were decreased by 90%. These results indicate that GSH plays an important role in modulating doxorubicin-induced OH formation via the scavenging of hydrogen peroxide by glutathione peroxidase and thus partially protects MCF-7/ADRR cells from the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin.
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PMID:Potentiation of doxorubicin cytotoxicity by buthionine sulfoximine in multidrug-resistant human breast tumor cells. 253 60

A spontaneously originated murine mammary adenocarcinoma (16C), selected for its sensitivity to agents active against breast cancer in women, and one of the very few experimental solid tumor models responsive to Adriamycin (ADR) was used to study the mechanism of induced ADR resistance in vivo. A resistant variant of the tumor was obtained from the explant of a regrown tumor following a dose of ADR (12 mg/kg) that caused complete tumor repression but not cure. Progressive refractoriness to ADR was observed following up to six repeated cycles of treatment, regression and regrowth. However, beyond the sixth treatment, no further degree of resistance could be obtained. The cell line so established, designated 16C/ADRR, has a glutathione (GSH) content 1.67 times greater than the parent 16C line. Depletion of GSH by buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) enhanced the cytoxicity of ADR in both cell lines. The sensitization effect appeared to be dependent on the degree of GSH depletion, requiring a threshold level of depletion to approximately 30% of control. The resistance of 16C/ADRR, however, appeared not to be directly related to the increased absolute GSH level per se since reduction of the GSH content of the 16C/ADRR line to levels similar to that of the parent 16C line did not restore the original sensitivity to ADR. However, the activities of two important elements in the GSH detoxification system, GSH peroxidase and S-transferase, were found to be elevated in resistant cells by factors of 2.4 and 4.7-5.6 respectively. In vivo studies with a diverse spectrum of antineoplastic drugs revealed a pattern of cross-resistance consistent with the idea that elevated GSH S-transferase and peroxidase activities may be responsible for the decreased (2.8- to 5.3-fold) sensitivity to ADR. 16C/ADRR exhibited cross-resistance with melphalan (MEL), but none with vincristine (VCR), vinblastine (VBL) or etoposide (VP-16). These results clearly demonstrate non-adherence by the 16C/ADRR tumors to the well characterized multidrug resistance (mdr) phenotype. Further affirmation of this conclusion was obtained by immunochemical and pharmacological studies. When a monoclonal antibody prepared against the mdr associated, 170 kD P-glycoprotein (170 P-gp), was used, the presence of the 170 kD P-gp in both the sensitive and resistant 16C lines could not be detected, although the presence of a lower molecular weight form of P-gp could not be ruled out entirely. High performance liquid chromatographic measurement of ADR accumulation and elimination also failed to reveal any significant differences between the sensitive and resistant variants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:A study of the mechanism of resistance to Adriamycin in vivo. Glutathione metabolism, P-glycoprotein expression, and drug transport. 257 74


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