Browsing by Author "Cuello, Mauricio"

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    Leptin stimulates migration and invasion and maintains cancer stem-like properties in ovarian cancer cells: an explanation for poor outcomes in obese women
    (2015) Kato, Sumie; Abarzua-Catalan, Lorena; Trigo, Cesar; Delpiano, Ana; Sanhueza, Cristobal; Garcia, Karen; Ibanez, Carolina; Hormazabal, Katherine; Diaz, Daniela; Branes, Jorge; Castellon, Enrique; Bravo, Erasmo; Owen, Gareth; Cuello, Mauricio
    The evidence linking obesity with ovarian cancer remains controversial. Leptin is expressed at higher levels in obese women and stimulates cell migration in other epithelial cancers. Here, we explored the clinical impact of overweight/obesity on patient prognosis and leptin's effects on the metastatic potential of ovarian cancer cells. We assessed clinical outcomes in 70 ovarian cancer patients (33 healthy weight and 37 overweight) that were validated with an external cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Progression-free and overall survival rates were significantly decreased in overweight patients. Similarly, a worse overall survival rate was found in TCGA patients expressing higher leptin/OB-Rb levels. We explored serum and ascites leptin levels and OB-Rb expression in our cohort. Serum and ascites leptin levels were higher in overweight patients experiencing worse survival. OB-Rb was more highly expressed in ascites and metastases than in primary tumors. Leptin exposure increased cancer cell migration/invasion through leptin-mediated activation of JAK/STAT3, PI3/AKT and RhoA/ROCK and promoted new lamellipodial, stress-fiber and focal adhesion formation. Leptin also contributed to the maintenance of stemness and the mesenchymal phenotype in ovarian cancer cells. Our findings demonstrate that leptin stimulated ovarian cancer cell migration and invasion, offering a potential explanation for the poor prognosis among obese women.
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    The oestrogen metabolite 2-methoxyoestradiol alone or in combination with tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand mediates apoptosis in cancerous but not healthy cells of the human endometrium
    (BIOSCIENTIFICA LTD, 2007) Kato, Sumie; Sadarangani, Anil; Lange, Soledad; Villalon, Manuel; Branes, Jorge; Brosens, Jan J.; Owen, Gareth I.; Cuello, Mauricio
    Cancers of the reproductive tract account for 12% of all malignancies in women. As previous studies have shown that oestrogen metabolites can cause apoptosis, we characterised the effect of oestrogen and oestrogen metabolites on non-cancerous and cancerous human endometrial cells. Herein, we demonstrate that 2-methoxyoestradiol (2ME), but not 17 beta-oestradiol, induces apoptosis in cancer cell lines and primary cultured tumours; of endometrial origin. In contrast, 2ME had no effect on cell viability of corresponding normal tissue. This ability of 2ME to induce apoptosis does not require oestrogen receptor activation, but is associated with increased entry into the G2/M phases of the cell cycle and the activation of both the intrinsic and the extrinsic apoptotic pathways. The selective behaviour of 2ME on cancerous as opposed to normal tissue may be due to a reduction in 17 beta -hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 11 levels in cancer cells and to a differential down-regulation of superoxide dismutase. Furthermore, we demonstrate that pre-treatment with 2ME enhances the sensitivity of reproductive tract cancer cells to the apoptotic drug tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), without the loss in cell viability to normal cells incurred by currently chemotherapeutic drugs. In conclusion, 2ME, alone or in combination with TRAIL, may be an effective treatment for cancers of uterine origin with minimal toxicity to corresponding healthy female reproductive tissue.
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    TRAIL mediates apoptosis in cancerous but not normal primary cultured cells of the human reproductive tract (vol 12, pg 73, 2007)
    (SPRINGER, 2007) Sadarangani, Anil; Kato, Sumie; Espinoza, Natalia; Lange, Soledad; Llados, Carmen; Espinosa, Marisol; Villalon, Manuel; Lipkowitz, Stanley; Cuello, Mauricio; Owen, Gareth I.