Activation of RARα induces autophagy in SKBR3 breast cancer cells and depletion of key autophagy genes enhances ATRA toxicity

Brigger, D.; Schläfli, Anna; Garattini, E.; Tschan, M. P. (2015). Activation of RARα induces autophagy in SKBR3 breast cancer cells and depletion of key autophagy genes enhances ATRA toxicity. Cell death & disease, 6(e1861), e1861. Nature Publishing Group 10.1038/cddis.2015.236

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All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a pan-retinoic acid receptor (RAR) agonist, is, along with other retinoids, a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of a variety of solid tumors. On the one hand, preclinical studies have shown promising anticancer effects of ATRA in breast cancer; on the other hand, resistances occurred. Autophagy is a cellular recycling process that allows the degradation of bulk cellular contents. Tumor cells may take advantage of autophagy to cope with stress caused by anticancer drugs. We therefore wondered if autophagy is activated by ATRA in mammary tumor cells and if modulation of autophagy might be a potential novel treatment strategy. Indeed, ATRA induces autophagic flux in ATRA-sensitive but not in ATRA-resistant human breast cancer cells. Moreover, using different RAR agonists as well as RARα-knockdown breast cancer cells, we demonstrate that autophagy is dependent on RARα activation. Interestingly, inhibition of autophagy in breast cancer cells by either genetic or pharmacological approaches resulted in significantly increased apoptosis under ATRA treatment and attenuated epithelial differentiation. In summary, our findings demonstrate that ATRA-induced autophagy is mediated by RARα in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, inhibition of autophagy results in enhanced apoptosis. This points to a potential novel treatment strategy for a selected group of breast cancer patients where ATRA and autophagy inhibitors are applied simultaneously.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Pathology > Tumour Pathology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > BioMedical Research (DBMR)
04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Pathology > Immunopathology

Graduate School:

Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB)

UniBE Contributor:

Brigger, Daniel, Bill, Anna Magdalena, Tschan, Mario Paul

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

2041-4889

Publisher:

Nature Publishing Group

Language:

English

Submitter:

Doris Haefelin

Date Deposited:

07 Dec 2015 11:56

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:50

Publisher DOI:

10.1038/cddis.2015.236

PubMed ID:

26313912

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.73732

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/73732

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