Carcinogenesis, Teratogenesis & Mutagenesis ›› 2016, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (6): 420-427.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-616x.2016.06.002

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Impact of different hypoxia conditions on the MDA-MB-231 triple-negative human breast cancer cells

LIU Litao1,2, LIU Wenlan2, WAN Lili2, ZHU Ting1,2, WANG Guomin3, RUAN Haiying2, XIE Ni2   

  1. 1. Graduate School of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436;
    2. Second People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518037;
    3. Shenzhen C. G. Xiao Hospital, Shenzhen 518129, Guangdong, China
  • Received:2016-04-13 Revised:2016-08-16 Online:2016-11-30 Published:2016-11-30

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To study the influence of hypoxia on metastatic potential of the MDA-MB-231 triplenegative human breast cancer cells. METHODS: MDA-MB-231 cells were divided into three hypoxia groups:intermittent hypoxia (IH),continuous hypoxia (CH) and normoxic (N). Cell migration and invasion ability were analyzed by wound healing and the Boyden chamber assay. Cell proliferation was analyzed by the CCK-8 assay. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vimentin expression in response to different hypoxic environments were analyzed by Western blot and real-time PCR assays. HIF-1α expression via siRNA knockout was investigated. RESULTS: IH-treated cells exhibited higher invasiveness than the C H-treated cells (P < 0.05). On the other hand,IH significantly inhibited cell proliferation while CH did not show such effect until 48 h later (P < 0.05). IH induced a greater effect on HIF-1α protein accumulation and vimentin upregulation. Knockdown of HIF-1α by siRNA abolished IH-induced cell migration and vimentin upregulation (P < 0.05). However, knockdown of HIF-1α had no effect on proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: IH had a more pronounced effect one nhancing the invasive phenotype of M DA-MB-231 cells than C H,and H IF-1α a ctivationt ogether with increased vimentin upregulation might be responsible for the phenotypic change.

Key words: hypoxia, HIF-1α, triple-negative breast cancers, cell migration

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