A Novel Role of BCL-2 in the Regulation of Apoptosis Mediated by Remodeling and Turnover of Extracellular Matrix

Abstract

Bcl-2 is a potent inhibitor of apoptosis induced by a variety of insults. Bcl-2 is highly expressed in breast cancer and its expression is related to chemotherapy and radiation therapy resistance. Recent studies suggest that ECM plays a crucial role in apoptosis regulation in breast epithelial cells. In this report, we investigated whether bcl-2 inhibition of apoptosis involves regulation of ECM molecules such as MMPs and TIMPs. We reported that bcl-2 overexpression upregulates TIMP-1 and downregulates MMP-9 in breast epithelial cell lines (MCFlOA, MCFlOATG3B and MCF-7), while it has no effect on TIMP-2 expression. We demonstrated that TIMP-1 inhibits cell death induced by hydrogen peroxide, Adriamycin. In addition, TIMP-1 overexpression inhibits apoptosis following the loss of cell adhesion (anoikis) in MCFlOA cells suggesting that the anti- apoptotic activity of TIMP-1 does not depend on its ability to stabilize cell-matrix interactions. We also showed that TIMP-1 overexpression is associated with a constitutive activation of the focal adhesion kinase, a signaling molecule known to be critical for the cell survival pathway.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA375161

Entities

People

  • Gangyong Li

Organizations

  • Wayne State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Apoptosis
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Membrane Structures
  • Cell Physiological Processes
  • Cells
  • Cellular Structures
  • Chemistry
  • Culture Media
  • Epithelial Cells
  • Inhibition
  • Mammary Glands
  • Materials
  • Medical Personnel
  • Molecules
  • Neoplasms
  • Rocket Oxidizers
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Molecular Biology and Genetics