Cell culture and animal studies have previously shown that alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing breast cancer by increasing the BLZ945 ability of breast cancer

cells to invade and metastasize [7, 8]. Alcohol consumption increases breast cancer risk in a dose-dependent manner; the risk increases by 10% for each alcoholic drink consumed daily [7–9]. Thus, consumption of two daily alcoholic drinks may lead to a 20% increase in breast cancer risk [8]. A drink is defined as 12 oz of beer or 5 oz of wine [8]. Studies also show that alcohol may increase the risk of breast cancer recurrence in previously diagnosed women, which may affect their survival [10]. Therefore, in order to develop strategies for the prevention and treatment of alcohol-related breast cancers, it is essential to understand the molecular mechanisms by which alcohol promotes the invasive phenotype of the AC220 molecular weight cancer cells. In this study, we show that alcohol promotes the invasive ability of human breast cancer T47D cells in vitro in a dose-dependent manner and show that the Nm23-ITGA5 pathway plays a critical role in the promotion of cancer cell invasion by alcohol. Metastases suppressing genes encode proteins that hinder the establishment of metastases

without blocking the growth of the primary tumor [11]. Two such genes are the human Nm23 genes (Nm23-H1 and Nm23-H2) which have been localized to chromosome 17q21 Nirogacestat research buy and encode 17 http://www.selleck.co.jp/products/tenofovir-alafenamide-gs-7340.html kDa proteins that use its nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase [12], histidine kinase [13], and exonuclease activities [14] to inhibit multiple metastatic-related

processes. Mutants that disrupt the NDP kinase and exonuclease functions of Nm23 still suppress metastasis to varying degrees, suggesting complex and overlapping roles in metastasis regulation [15]. In this report, we focus only on Nm23-H1. Overexpression of Nm23-H1 in tumor cells reduces tumor cell motility and invasion, promotes cellular differentiation, and inhibits anchorage-independent growth and adhesion to fibronectin, laminin, and vascular endothelial cells [16, 17]. While Nm23 works to prevent the spread of breast cancer, ITGA5 produces an integral membrane protein that increases the metastasis of breast cancer cells [18]. ITGA5 is found on chromosome 12q11-q13 and encodes integrin alpha-5, a fibronectin receptor protein [19]. Through binding to fibronectin, an extracellular glycoprotein, ITGA5 facilitates cellular growth and migration [18, 20]. Integrins associate with adaptor proteins, cytoplasmic kinases and transmembrane growth factor receptors to trigger biochemical signaling pathways [21]. Overexpression of ITGA5 leads to increased cellular adhesion and interaction with fibronectin, resulting in promoted tumor metastasis [18]. In the present study, we report, for the first time, the effects of alcohol on the Nm23-ITGA5 pathway and show that regulation of this pathway is important for in vitro cellular invasion of T47D human breast cancer cells.