title: c-MET protects breast cancer cells from apoptosis induced by sodium butyrate.
abstract: Sodium butyrate (NaBu) is regarded as a potential reagent for cancer therapy. In this study, a specific breast cancer cell population that is resistant NaBu treatment was identified. These cells possess cancer stem cell characters, such as the capability of sphere formation in vitro and high tumor incident rate (85%) in mouse model. Forty percent of the NaBu resistant cells express the cancer stem cells marker, the CD133, whereas only 10% intact cells present the CD133 antigen. Furthermore, the endogenous expressing c-MET contributes to the survival of cancer stem cell population from the treatment of NaBu. The CD133+ group also presents a higher level of c-MET. A combination treatment of MET siRNA and NaBu efficiently prohibited the breast cancer progression, and the incident rate of the tumor decrease to 18%. This study may help to develop a new and alternative strategy for breast cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China. sunbo@seu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhong-Dang
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002087:Butyrates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D019610:Cytoprotection / Q000187:drug effects*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000187:drug effects; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002087:Butyrates; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met