Papel de la familia de microRNAs-449 y el gen CDC20B en la respuesta a tratamientos en cáncer de mamaorganoides y cultivos primarios como modelos tumorales

Resumen

Triple-negative breast cancer accounts for 10-20% of breast cancer cases. This molecular subtype is characterized by its highly aggressive and invasive capacity being associated with a bad prognosis. The lack of hormone and HER2 receptors makes chemotherapy the main systemic effective treatment. However, several triple-negative breast cancer patients relapse after receiving chemotherapy. Therefore, deciphering the molecular characteristics and searching for new therapeutic tools for this subtype is crucial. In this sense, microRNAs (miRNAs) are found dysregulated in several cancer types and emerge as potential prognostic molecules involved in biological processes and chemotherapy response. This thesis entitled "Role of microRNAs-449 in breast cancer features: From epigenetic regulation to chemotherapy resistance" is focused on the role of the miRNA-449 (miRNA-449a, miRNA-449b-5p, and miRNA-449c-5p) family in the modulation of breast cancer aggressiveness and chemotherapy response. This study provided evidence of microRNAs-449 downregulation in triple-negative breast cancer cell lines and patients and suggested histone deacetylation of its promoter region as an inhibitor mechanism. Particularly, the histone deacetylases HDAC1 and SIRT1 were found upregulated in triple-negative breast cancer cells, and their genetic and chemical inhibition increased microRNAs-449 expression. In addition, a negative feedback loop modulation between miRNAs-449 and HDAC1/SIRT1 was observed, thus contributing to the homeostasis or tumoral phenotype of cells. In silico analyses pointed out ACSL4, a fatty acid-activating enzyme, as target of miRNAs-449. This is in concordance with other studies that pointed out an altered lipid metabolism to sustain cancer progression. An inverse correlation between microRNAs-449 and ACSL4 expression was observed in triple-negative breast cancer cell lines and patients, and luciferase reporter assay confirmed this ACSL4 direct targeting by miRNA-449a and miRNA-449b-5p for the first time. Moreover, the microRNA-449c-5p overexpression alone also produced an ACSL4 downregulation, so an indirect relationship was also suggested through the modulation of unknown molecules. MiRNAs-449 overexpression and ACSL4 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, migration by diminishing the ability to undergo the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process, and colony formation by downregulating markers of stemness. These results suggested a microRNAs-449 inhibition of breast cancer aggressiveness through ACSL4 downregulation. Furthermore, based on previous literature and published results by our laboratory, a miRNAs-449 implication in chemotherapy response was evaluated through this novel target. MiRNAs-449 were downregulated in doxorubicin-resistant cells. In turn, ACSL4 overexpression was observed in doxorubicin-resistant cells and patients who relapsed after chemotherapy-containing treatment. Subsequent doxorubicin treatment increased miRNAs-449 but decreased ACSL4 expression in doxorubicin-sensitive, but not in resistant cells, thus suggesting a miRNAs-449 and ACSL4 implication in chemotherapy response. In this study, we observed that miRNAs-449 overexpression produced doxorubicin sensitivity through ACSL4 downregulation by viability and apoptosis assay. In addition, ACSL4 inhibition decreased the drug extrusion pump ABCG2's expression, leading to an increased doxorubicin accumulation in cells. The involvement of miRNAs-449 in the inhibition of aggressiveness and sensitivity to doxorubicin suggests its potential use as a therapeutic tool in triple-negative breast cancer.