Abstract P5-03-09: Eribulin affects E-cadherin localization consistent with a reversal of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition

Microtubule targeting agents (MTAs) are some of the most important compounds used to treat breast cancer. While both microtubule stabilizers and destabilizers have utility against breast cancers, not all patients respond and there are differences among the agents. Eribulin is a microtubule depolymerizer used to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancerwho have previously received at least two chemotherapeutic regimens, including an anthracycline and a taxane. Our goal was to compare the effects of eribulin to four other clinically relevant MTAs on signaling processes important for cancer cell metastasis that are known to be regulated by the cytoskeleton. One process is the appropriate localization of E-cadherin, which plays a critical role in maintaining an epithelial phenotype by facilitating the ability of cells to form cell-cell contacts. These contacts help prevent cell motility and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) by sequestering several proteins involved in EMT at the plasma membrane, including β-catenin. E-cadherin is absent from the cell membrane in cells with a mesenchymal phenotype. We hypothesized that eribulin could affect the internalization of E-cadherin and promote its retention at the cell periphery and that it might do so differently than other MTAs because eribulin has been shown to reverse EMT in breast cancer cells and in xenograft models. Mesenchymal breast cancer HCC1937 cells were treated for 2 hr with MTAs using a conc...
Source: Cancer Research - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Poster Session Abstracts Source Type: research