title: Calcium hydroxyapatite promotes mitogenesis and matrix metalloproteinase expression in human breast cancer cell lines.
abstract: Radiographic mammary microcalcifications are one of the most pertinent diagnostic markers of breast cancer. Breast tissue calcification in the form of calcium hydroxyapatite (HA) is strongly associated with malignant disease. We tested the hypothesis that calcium HA may exert biological effects on surrounding cells, thereby facilitating breast cancer progression. Our findings showed that HA crystals enhanced mitogenesis in breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and Hs578T and also in normal human mammary epithelial cells. HA crystals were also found to upregulate the production of a variety of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), including MMP-2, -9, and -13 in MCF-7 and MMP-9 in human mammary epithelial cell lines. HA crystals were found to greatly augment prostaglandin E(2) levels in Hs578T cells, and treatment with a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, aspirin, abrogated the HA-induced mitogenesis. These results suggest that calcium HA crystals may play an active role in amplifying the pathological process involved in breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Christopherson
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Westfall
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D017886:Durapatite / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D017886:Durapatite; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases