Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim was to determine whether Bcl-2-associated athanogene-1 (Bag-1) and/or its binding protein heat shock protein-70 (Hsp70) exhibit deregulated expression in epidermal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and whether Bag-1 confers apoptosis resistance.
METHOD: Immunohistochemistry for Bag-1 and Hsp70 was performed on 60 epidermal SCC and 10 normal skin samples. The epidermal SCC cell line SCC-13 was treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) after Bag-1 knockdown to determine whether high Bag-1 levels contribute to growth and/or apoptosis resistance.
RESULTS: Normal epithelium expressed primarily nuclear Bag-1. Most tumours showed reduced nuclear Bag-1 staining, but a subset exhibited strong Bag-1 staining, with cytoplasmic Bag-1 staining intensity correlating with cytoplasmic Hsp70 staining intensity (r(s) = 0.462; P<0.001) and less differentiation (P<0.001). Bag-1 knockdown resulted in markedly reduced SCC-13 cell yield, increased spontaneous apoptosis and enhanced sensitivity to 5-FU-induced apoptosis. Apoptosis induced by 5-FU in the Bag-1-knockdown cells was significantly greater than the additive apoptotic effect of 5-FU or Bag-1 knockdown alone.
CONCLUSIONS: Overexpression of Bag-1 and Hsp70 in poorly differentiated SCC may confer both enhanced tumour cell growth and apoptosis resistance. Bag-1 may contribute to the resistance of more advanced epidermal SCC to chemotherapy. British Journal of Cancer (2011) 104, 1459-1471. doi:10.1038/bjc.2011.111 www.bjcancer.com (C) 2011 Cancer Research UK
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1459-1471 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | British Journal of Cancer |
| Volume | 104 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 26 Apr 2011 |
Keywords
- Bag-1
- heat shock protein-70
- skin
- apoptosis
- immunohistochemistry
- 5-fluorouracil
- ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION INITIATION
- PROTEIN BAG-1
- SKIN-CANCER
- COLORECTAL ADENOMA
- EXPRESSION
- LINES
- P53
- SURVIVAL
- TUMOR
- BCL-2
