Activation of NFkB is a novel mechanism of pro-survival activity of glucocorticoids in breast cancer cells.

Shagufta Khan, Zenaida Lopez-Dee, Raj Kumar, Jun Ling

Department of Basic Sciences, The Commonwealth Medical College, Scranton, PA 18509, USA.

Cancer letters 2013 Aug 28

filter terms:

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are pro-apoptotic as a co-medication to treat leukemia and lymphoma. However, the effects in breast cancer (BC) are diverse with mechanisms less understood. In this study using BC model cell MCF7, we found that dexamethasone (Dex) promotes cell proliferation. Gene expression analysis identified that c-Myc was enhanced by Dex, providing an important link to the pro-survival effect of GCs in BC. Dex treatment promoted NFkB transcriptional activity leading to the up-regulation of c-Myc. RelA was activated by Dex but with decreased interaction with GR, thus identifying a new pattern of regulation of NFkB by GC/GR in BC cells. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Shagufta Khan, Zenaida Lopez-Dee, Raj Kumar, Jun Ling. Activation of NFkB is a novel mechanism of pro-survival activity of glucocorticoids in breast cancer cells. Cancer letters. 2013 Aug 28;337(1):90-5