Aspirin Breaks the Crosstalk between 3T3-L1 Adipocytes and 4T1 Breast Cancer Cells by Regulating Cytokine Production

PLoS One. 2016 Jan 21;11(1):e0147161. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147161. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide. The obesity process is normally accompanied by chronic, low-grade inflammation. Infiltration by inflammatory cytokines and immune cells provides a favorable microenvironment for tumor growth, migration, and metastasis. Epidemiological evidence has shown that aspirin is an effective agent against several types of cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects of aspirin on 3T3-L1 adipocytes, 4T1 murine breast cancer cells, and their crosstalk. The results showed that aspirin treatment inhibited differentiation and lipid accumulation by 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, and decreased the secretion of the inflammatory adipokine MCP-1 after stimulation with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α or conditioned medium from RAW264.7 cells. In 4T1 cells, treatment with aspirin decreased cell viability and migration, possibly by suppressing MCP-1 and VEGF secretion. Subsequently, culture of 4T1 cells in 3T3-L1 adipocyte-conditioned medium (Ad-CM) and co-culture of 3T3-L1 and 4T1 cells using a transwell plate were performed to clarify the relationship between these two cell lines. Aspirin exerted its inhibitory effects in the transwell co-culture system, as well as the conditioned-medium model. Aspirin treatment significantly inhibited the proliferation of 4T1 cells, and decreased the production of MCP-1 and PAI-1 in both the Ad-CM model and co-culture system. Aspirin inhibited inflammatory MCP-1 adipokine production by 3T3-L1 adipocytes and the cell growth and migration of 4T1 cells. It also broke the crosstalk between these two cell lines, possibly contributing to its chemopreventive properties in breast cancer. This is the first report that aspirin's chemopreventive activity supports the potential application in auxiliary therapy against obesity-related breast cancer development.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 3T3-L1 Cells
  • Adipocytes / cytology
  • Adipocytes / drug effects
  • Adipocytes / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / pharmacology*
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Aspirin / pharmacology*
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Breast Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Cell Differentiation / drug effects
  • Cell Movement / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Chemokine CCL2 / metabolism*
  • Coculture Techniques
  • Culture Media, Conditioned / pharmacology
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / metabolism*
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / metabolism*

Substances

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
  • CCL2 protein, human
  • Chemokine CCL2
  • Culture Media, Conditioned
  • Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1
  • SERPINE1 protein, human
  • VEGFA protein, human
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
  • Aspirin

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (https://www.most.gov.tw/en/public) MOST 103-2320-B-003-003-MY3 and the National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan (http://www2.ntnu.edu.tw/) (#T10207000473, #T10407000803). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.