Matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1) is a member of the zinc-dependent endopeptidase family, which cleaves the extracellular matrix. The present study investigated the functional role of MMP-1 in breast cancer
Breast cancer is a significant health burden for women worldwide despite decades-long advancement in early detection, prevention, treatment strategies and pathogenesis studies (
Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of zinc-dependent proteases that degrade the extracellular matrix during physiological processes, including embryonic development, human reproduction, tissue remodeling and disease states (
Therefore, in the present study, MMP-1 levels in normal and invasive breast cancer tissue samples were first detected in order to analyze the association with clinicopathological data from patients. The MMP-1 expression was then knocked down in breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines using MMP-1 siRNA, and the effect of MMP-1-knockdown on tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion was determined. The aim of the study was to be able to provide useful information regarding MMP-1 as a potential biomarker in breast cancer progression and to target MMP-1 for breast cancer treatment.
In the present study, tissue specimens were collected from 99 female patients with breast cancer, who underwent surgical resection of tumor lesions and medical care in The Second Hospital, Dalian Medical University (Dalian, China) between January and December of 2017. No patients received any preoperative radiotherapy, endocrine therapy or chemotherapy, and all were histologically diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and staged according to the World Health Organization classification (
The research protocol of the present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University (certification no. 2017–39), and written informed consent was obtained from all patients prior to enrollment.
Immunohistochemical analysis of protein expression was performed on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections (4 µM thickness) using the EnVision kit (Fuzhou Maixin Biotech Co., Ltd., Fuzhou, China) according to the manufacturer's protocols. The MMP-1 antibody (cat. no. ab52631; Abcam, Cambridge, UK) and antibodies against ER (cat. no. 6F11), PR (cat. no. EP2), HER2 (cat. no. EP3) and cytokeratin (CK)5/6 (cat. no. CK5/6.007) which were obtained from ZSGB Biotech Co., Ltd (Beijing, China) were used at a dilution of 1:100 following the manufacturer's protocols. The immunostained tissue sections were reviewed and assessed under a light microscope (magnification, ×200 and ×400) by two independent researchers in a blinded manner from the Department of Pathology (The Second Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian China); discrepancies were resolved by discussion until a consensus was reached. Positive expression of the ER and PR proteins was defined by 10% stained nuclei, while positive expression for MMP-1 and CK5/6 was defined as 10% stained cytoplasm as the cut-off values for positive immunostaining. The TNBC specimens (ER-, PR- and HER2-) were further stained with basal CK5/6. A score of 3+ for HER2 immunostaining was defined as strong and complete membrane positivity for staining in >10% invasive tumor cells (
Human breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines were acquired from the Shanghai Cell Bank of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai, China) and grown in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium with high glucose containing 10% fetal bovine serum (both Gibco; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA), penicillin (100 U/ml), and streptomycin (100 mg/ml) at 37°C in a humidified incubator with 5% carbon dioxide.
An MMP-1 shRNA was utilized to knock down the expression of MMP-1 in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Specifically, MMP-1 shRNA and control (mock) DNA sequences were cloned into multiple cloning sites of a GV102 vector (Shanghai Genechem Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China) to generate GV102-MMP1-shRNA (shRNA-MMP1#1, shRNA-MMP1#2 and shRNA-MMP1#3) and a GV102-control (shRNA-mock). The target sequences against MMP-1 were 5′-CACATGACTTTCCTGGAAT-3′, 5′-CTAGAACTGTGAAGCATAT-3′ and 5′-ACAATTTCAGAGAGTACAA-3′, respectively, and the negative control sequence was 5′-TTCTCCGAACGTGTCACGT-3′. Following DNA sequencing confirmation, the vectors were transfected into the breast cancer cells.
Breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were plated into a 6-well plate, grown to reach 80% confluence and then transfected with these plasmids (2 µg each well)(shRNA-MMP1#1, shRNA-MMP1#2, shRNA-MMP1#3 or shRNA-mock) using Lipofectamine™ 2000 (Invitrogen; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.) for 48 h, according to the manufacturer's protocol.
A western blot assay was used to assess the levels of MMP-1, the Myc proto-oncogene protein (c-Myc), phosphorylated and total RAC-α serine/threonine-protein kinase (AKT), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), apoptosis regulator BAX (BAX) and caspase 3 in the shRNA-transfected cells, and MMP-1 expression in 14 ER(+), 7 HER2(3+) and 7 TNBC tissue samples. In brief, total cellular protein was extracted from the breast cancer tissues or cells using radioimmunoprecipitation assay buffer (Beijing Solarbio Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China), and the protein concentration was determined using a bicinchoninic acid assay. The protein samples (25 µg each) were separated in a 10% SDS-PAGE gel and transferred onto a nitrocellulose membrane. The membrane was then incubated in 5% skimmed milk with Tween-20 TBST suspension buffer for 4 h at room temperature, then with the specified primary antibodies at 4°C overnight, and finally with the secondary antibodies conjugated with horseradish peroxidase for 2 h at room temperature. Positive protein bands were visualized with an enhanced chemiluminescence reagent (Gene Tech Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China). The ImageJ1.42q software (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA) was used to quantify the protein expression levels. The commercial antibodies used in this assay were MMP-1 (dilution, 1:500; cat. no. ab52631), c-Myc (dilution, 1:1,000; cat. no. ab39688; both Abcam), p-AKT (dilution, 1:1,000; cat. no. 9275), AKT (dilution, 1:1,000; cat. no. 9272; both Cell Signaling Technology, Inc., Danvers, MA, USA), Bcl-2 (dilution, 1:1,000; cat. no. bs-20351R), BAX (dilution, 1:1,000; cat. no. bs-4564R) and caspase 3 (dilution, 1:1,000; cat. no. bsm-33199M) and GAPDH (dilution, 1:5,000; cat. no. bs-0755R; all BIOSS, Beijing, China). The rabbit-derived primary antibody was followed by incubation with goat anti-rabbit secondary antibody (dilution, 1:5,000; cat. no. ZB2301; OriGene Co. Ltd, Beijing, China) and the mouse-derived primary antibody with goat anti-mouse secondary antibody (dilution, 1:5,000; cat. no. A0216; Beyotime Co. Ltd, Shanghai, China).
Cell proliferation was determined with an MTT assay. Following the transfection with the shRNA plasmids, the MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were seeded at 2×103 cells/well into 96-well plates, and grown for up to 72 h at 37°C with 5% CO2. At the end of each experiment, 20 µl MTT solution (5 mg/ml) was added to the cells, and they were further incubated at 37°C for 4 h. Subsequently, the cell culture medium was replaced with 100 µl dimethyl sulfoxide and the optical density was assessed at 490 nm using a spectrophotometer (Beijing Liuyi Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China).
For the colony formation assay, 250 cells per well were seeded into 6-well plates and incubated for 11 days at 37°C with 5% CO2 until visible colonies appeared. The cell culture medium was poured out and the cells were washed with PBS three times, followed by staining with 0.5% Giemsa. Cell colonies with ≥50 cells were counted under a microscope (Olympus Corp., Tokyo, Japan). These assays were performed in triplicate and repeated ≥3 times.
Following the 48-h shRNA-control or shRNA-MMP-1 transfection, the MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells were detached and re-seeded into a 6-well plate at a density of 1×105 cells per well. The cells were grown to ~95% confluence and scratch wounds were made in the cell monolayer using a 200-µl pipette tip. Following washing with ice-cold PBS, the cells were then continuously cultured for 24 and 48 h at 37°C with 5% CO2, during which time images were captured under an inverted microscope (Olympus Corp.).
Transwell 24-well inserts with 8-mm pore size filters (Corning Life Sciences, Corning, NY, USA) were used to assess the tumor cell migration and invasion capacity. For tumor cell invasion ability, the membranes were pre-coated with 20 µl Matrigel (dilution, 1:3; BD Biosciences, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA). Following the 48-h shRNA-control or shRNA-MMP-1 transfection, 2.5×104 cells in 0.2 ml growth DMEM were seeded into the upper chambers, with 0.5 ml growth medium containing 20% FBS in the lower chambers. The cells were incubated for 24 h at 37°C, and any cells that had invaded or migrated (separate experiment using a membrane without the Matrigel pre-coating) to the reverse side of the membrane were detected by staining with 0.1% crystal violet for 30 min at room temperature, and viewed and counted under a light microscope at magnification, ×200.
All statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS v16.0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation. Categorical data were analyzed using the χ2 test, while quantitative data were compared with a two-tailed Student's t-test between groups and a one-way analysis of variance among multiple groups followed by Lease Significant Difference post hoc test. P<0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant difference.
In the cohort of 99 patients, with a mean age of 54 years at surgery (range, 32–86 years), all were histologically diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Histologically, 28 ER(+), 22 HER2(3+) and 26 TNBC cases were observed. The remaining 23 samples could not be categorized in the aforementioned groups as they were HER2(2+)and/or indicated to express ER in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. Tissue specimens were obtained during surgery and subjected to formalin fixation and paraffin-embedding, while fresh tissue samples from a number of patients were also collected for western blotting. The basic clinicopathological data of the patients and their association with the MMP-1 histology results are listed in
In the present study, MMP-1 expression was first detected in breast cancer tissues using immunohistochemistry, and it was revealed that the MMP-1 protein was expressed in 62.63% (62/99) of breast cancer tissues and in 71.72% (71/99) of tumor stroma samples (
The immunohistochemical and western blotting data revealed that the highest levels of MMP-1 expression were in the TNBC tissues, and that they were significantly higher than those measured in ER(+) and HER2(3+) breast cancer tissues (P<0.05;
The effects of MMP-1-knockdown on breast cancer cell proliferation and colony formation ability were assessed, and the level of MMP-1 protein was significantly lower in the shRNA-MMP1#2-transfected tumor cells than that in the shRNA control cells (
The Transwell invasion assay revealed a significant reduction in the invasion of the shRNA-MMP-1-transfected cells compared with that of the shRNA-control-transfected cells (
A previous study has demonstrated that MMP-1 is able to alter the expression of cell growth/apoptosis- and mobility-associated proteins (
MMPs serve an important role in tissue remodeling and disease progressions; accordingly, their overexpression in a number of types of cancer has been reported in various human cancer types, including lung and breast cancers (
Based on DNA microarray profiling, breast cancer is currently divided into five phenotypes: Luminal A, luminal B, HER2, normal breast-like and basal-like breast cancer (
Notably, certain studies have demonstrated that the upregulation of MMP-1 expression occurs in grade III breast cancer (
Furthermore, a previous study demonstrated that the stromal expression of MMP-1 protein was significantly associated with the luminal A, luminal B, HER2-positive and TNBC subtypes (
In addition, the oncogenic c-Myc protein serves a potent role in the development and progression of a variety of human cancer types (
Lastly, Bcl-2 expression does not differ between TNBC and non-TNBC, but higher Bcl-2 expression has been revealed to be associated with favorable prognostic factors in breast cancer (
The results of the present study demonstrate that MMP-1 is differentially regulated in breast cancer tissues and serves a role in breast cancer invasion and metastasis. Therefore, MMP-1 may be of great value and should be further studied as a diagnostic marker and drug target for breast cancer.
The authors would like to thank Dr. Yi-Wei Wang of Shenyang Medical College (Shenyang, China) and Dr. Ping Li of Taian City Central Hospital (Taian, China) for technical assistance in the present study.
No funding was received.
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
QMW and LFW substantially contributed to the conception, design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data and drafting the article. LL performed experiments and data analysis and revised the manuscript, while YT and LZ assisted in the design of the present study and drafted and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The research protocol of the present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University (certification no. 2017-39), and written informed consent was obtained from all patients before enrollment into this study protocol.
All patients provided consent for the publication of the present manuscript and all their identifiable information were removed during data analyses.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
High expression of MMP-1 protein in breast cancer and tumor stroma tissues. MMP-1 expression was assessed in breast cancer tissues of (A) ER(+) samples, (B) HER2(3+) samples and (C) TNBC samples using immunohistochemistry. (D) Immunohistochemistry image of strong MMP-1 expression in breast cancer-associated stromal cells. Original magnification, ×200. (E) Western blotting results. The levels of MMP-1 protein were significantly higher in the TNBC tissues than in the ER(+) and HER2(3+) breast cancer tissues. GAPDH was used to normalize the protein expression levels. *P<0.05 using analysis of variance. The data represent three independent experiments. MMP-1, matrix metalloproteinase 1; ER, estrogen receptor; HER2, human epidermal growth factor 2 receptor; TNBC, triple-negative breast cancer.
Inhibition of breast cancer cell proliferation following MMP-1-knockdown. (A) Western blot analysis. The level of MMP-1 protein was knocked down in MCF-7 cells using shRNA-MMP-1. *P<0.05 using analysis of variance. (B) MTT assay. MMP-1-knockdown significantly reduced tumor cell proliferation in the MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. *P<0.05 and **P<0.01 using an unpaired Student's t-test. (C) Colony formation assay. The number of colonies formed was significantly reduced in breast cancer cells expressing shRNA-MMP-1 compared with that in the shRNA-control cells. *P<0.05 using an unpaired Student's t-test. The data presented are the mean ± standard deviation from three independent experiments. MMP-1, matrix metalloproteinase 1; shRNA, short hairpin RNA; OD, optical density.
Inhibition of the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells following the MMP-1-knockdown. (A) Transwell invasion assay. MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells transfected with shRNA-MMP-1 or shRNA-control were applied to the upper chamber of Transwell inserts. After 24 h, the cells that invaded into the inverse surface of membrane were stained with 0.1% crystal violet and counted. Magnification, ×100. (B) Wound healing assay. The motile ability of shRNA-MMP-1 and shRNA-control MCF-7 cells was assessed. *P<0.05, determined by Student's t-test. The data presented are the mean ± standard deviation from three independent experiments. Magnification, ×100. MMP-1, matrix metalloproteinase 1; shRNA, short hairpin RNA.
Inhibition of gene expression in breast cancer cells after the knockdown of MMP-1 expression. Western blotting was performed to assay the expression of c-Myc, p-AKT, AKT, Bcl-2, BAX, and caspase 3 in the shRNA-MMP-1 transfected MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells compared to that in the control shRNA-control cells. The data revealed a marked reduction in expression of c-Myc, p-AKT, AKT, Bcl-2, but increase in expression of BAX and caspase 3 in the shRNA-MMP-1 transfected MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells compared the control shRNA-control cells. MMP-1, matrix metalloproteinase 1; shRNA, short hairpin RNA; Bcl-2, B-cell lymphoma 2; BAX, apoptosis regulator BAX; p-AKT, phosphorylated RAC-α serine/threonine-protein kinase; c-Myc, Myc proto-oncogene protein.
Expression of MMP-1 and its association with clinicopathological parameters in breast cancer tissues.
Positivity of MMP-1 expression | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Breast cancer tissue | Breast cancer-associated stroma | ||||||
Parameter | Total patients, n | n | Rate, % | P-value | n | Rate, % | P-value |
Age, years | 0.728 | 1.000 | |||||
≤50 | 41 | 27 | 65.85 | 29 | 70.73 | ||
>50 | 58 | 35 | 60.34 | 42 | 72.41 | ||
Menopause | 0.416 | 0.980 | |||||
Yes | 55 | 32 | 58.18 | 40 | 72.73 | ||
No | 44 | 30 | 68.18 | 31 | 70.45 | ||
Axillary nodal status | 0.027 |
0.019 |
|||||
≥N1 | 45 | 34 | 75.56 | 38 | 84.44 | ||
N0 | 54 | 28 | 51.85 | 33 | 61.11 | ||
Tumor size, cm | 0.773 | 0.826 | |||||
≤2 | 53 | 32 | 60.38 | 39 | 73.58 | ||
>2 | 46 | 30 | 65.22 | 32 | 69.57 | ||
Grade | 0.067 | 0.059 | |||||
I | 6 | 2 | 33.33 | 2 | 33.33 | ||
II | 56 | 38 | 67.86 | 39 | 69.64 | ||
III | 37 | 22 | 59.46 | 30 | 81.08 | ||
Stage | 0.128 | 0.404 | |||||
I/II | 70 | 40 | 57.14 | 48 | 68.57 | ||
III/IV | 29 | 22 | 75.86 | 23 | 79.31 | ||
IHC status | 0.017 |
0.018 |
|||||
ER(+) | 28 | 11 | 39.29 | 17 | 60.71 | ||
HER2(3+) | 22 | 14 | 63.64 | 16 | 72.73 | ||
TNBC | 26 | 20 | 76.92 | 24 | 92.31 |
P<0.05. MMP-1, matrix metalloproteinase 1; IHC, immunohistochemistry; ER, estrogen receptor; HER2, human epidermal growth factor 2 receptor; TNBC, triple-negative breast cancer. The remaining 23 samples could not be categorized as they were HER2(2+) and/or indicated to express ER in the cytoplasm of tumor cells.