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Parathyroid hormone 1 receptor signaling mediates breast cancer metastasis to bone in mice
Srilatha Swami, Hui Zhu, Aria Nisco, Takaharu Kimura, Matthew J. Kim, Vaisakh Nair, Joy Y. Wu
Srilatha Swami, Hui Zhu, Aria Nisco, Takaharu Kimura, Matthew J. Kim, Vaisakh Nair, Joy Y. Wu
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Research Article Bone biology Oncology

Parathyroid hormone 1 receptor signaling mediates breast cancer metastasis to bone in mice

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Abstract

Bone metastases are a common complication of breast cancer. We have demonstrated that intermittent administration of parathyroid hormone (PTH[1-34]) reduces the incidence of bone metastases in murine models of breast cancer by acting on osteoblasts to alter the bone microenvironment. Here, we examined the role of signaling mediated by PTH 1 receptor (PTH1R) in both osteoblasts and breast cancer cells in influencing bone metastases. In mice with impaired PTH1R signaling in osteoblasts, intermittent PTH did not reduce bone metastasis. Intermittent PTH also did not reduce bone metastasis when expression of PTH1R was knocked down in 4T1 murine breast cancer cells by shRNA. In 4T1 breast cancer cells, PTH decreased expression of PTH-related protein (PTHrP), implicated in the vicious cycle of bone metastases. Knockdown of PTHrP in 4T1 cells significantly reduced migration toward MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts, and migration was further inhibited by treatment with intermittent PTH. Conversely, overexpression of PTHrP in 4T1 cells increased migration toward MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts, and this was not inhibited by PTH. In conclusion, PTH1R expression is crucial in both osteoblasts and breast cancer cells for PTH to reduce bone metastases, and in breast cancer cells, this may be mediated in part by suppression of PTHrP.

Authors

Srilatha Swami, Hui Zhu, Aria Nisco, Takaharu Kimura, Matthew J. Kim, Vaisakh Nair, Joy Y. Wu

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Figure 7

Pthlh expression is a key mediator of the actions of PTH on breast cancer cell migration.

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Pthlh expression is a key mediator of the actions of PTH on breast canc...
(A) Relative Pthlh mRNA levels in 4T1 cells with Pthlh knockdown (PthlhKD-4T1) using siRNA. (B) Representative images and (C) numbers of Cont-4T1 and Pth1rKD-4T1 breast cancer cells that migrated toward MC3T3 osteoblasts treated with PBS or PTH in transwell assays. Scale bar: 200 μm. (D) Relative Pthlh mRNA levels in PthlhOE-4T1 cells. (E) Representative images and (F) numbers of Cont-4T1 and PthlhOE-4T1 breast cancer cells that migrated toward MC3T3 osteoblasts treated with PBS or PTH in transwell assays. All values represent the mean ± SEM of at least 6 individual experiments conducted in triplicate. Scale bar: 200 μm. Statistical significance was evaluated using 2-way ANOVA with Tukey’s test as the post hoc analysis. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 and ****P < 0.0001 when compared with the PBS-treated control. ++P < 0.01 when compared with the PTH-treated control.

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