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Intracellular cartilage oligomeric matrix protein augments breast cancer resistance to chemotherapy

Hanitrarimalala, Veroniaina LU ; Bednarska, Izabela LU ; Murakami, Takashi ; Papadakos, Konstantinos S. LU orcid and Blom, Anna M. LU orcid (2024) In Cell Death and Disease 15(7).
Abstract

Chemotherapy persists as the primary intervention for breast cancer, with chemoresistance posing the principal obstacle to successful treatment. Herein, we show that cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) expression leads to increased cancer cell survival and attenuated apoptosis under treatment with several chemotherapeutic drugs, anti-HER2 targeted treatment, and endocrine therapy in several breast cancer cell lines tested. The COMP-induced chemoresistance was independent of the breast cancer subtype. Extracellularly delivered recombinant COMP failed to rescue cells from apoptosis while endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-restricted COMP-KDEL conferred resistance to apoptosis, consistent with the localization of COMP in the ER, where it... (More)

Chemotherapy persists as the primary intervention for breast cancer, with chemoresistance posing the principal obstacle to successful treatment. Herein, we show that cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) expression leads to increased cancer cell survival and attenuated apoptosis under treatment with several chemotherapeutic drugs, anti-HER2 targeted treatment, and endocrine therapy in several breast cancer cell lines tested. The COMP-induced chemoresistance was independent of the breast cancer subtype. Extracellularly delivered recombinant COMP failed to rescue cells from apoptosis while endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-restricted COMP-KDEL conferred resistance to apoptosis, consistent with the localization of COMP in the ER, where it interacted with calpain. Calpain activation was reduced in COMP-expressing cells and maintained at a lower level of activation during treatment with epirubicin. Moreover, the downstream caspases of calpain, caspases -9, -7, and -3, exhibited significantly reduced activation in COMP-expressing cells under chemotherapy treatment. Chemotherapy, when combined with calpain activators, rendered the cells expressing COMP more chemosensitive. Also, the anti-apoptotic proteins phospho-Bcl2 and survivin were increased in COMP-expressing cells upon chemotherapy. Cells expressing a mutant COMP lacking thrombospondin repeats exhibited reduced chemoresistance compared to cells expressing full-length COMP. Evaluation of calcium levels in the ER, cytosol, and mitochondria revealed that COMP expression modulates intracellular calcium homeostasis. Furthermore, patients undergoing chemotherapy or endocrine therapy demonstrated significantly reduced overall survival time when tumors expressed high levels of COMP. This study identifies a novel role of COMP in chemoresistance and calpain inactivation in breast cancer, a discovery with potential implications for anti-cancer therapy.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Cell Death and Disease
volume
15
issue
7
article number
480
publisher
Springer Nature
external identifiers
  • pmid:38965233
  • scopus:85197564043
ISSN
2041-4889
DOI
10.1038/s41419-024-06872-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a6b3375c-ef1d-4cfb-962d-e38b1ebcaedb
date added to LUP
2024-10-14 14:51:55
date last changed
2025-07-08 13:26:39
@article{a6b3375c-ef1d-4cfb-962d-e38b1ebcaedb,
  abstract     = {{<p>Chemotherapy persists as the primary intervention for breast cancer, with chemoresistance posing the principal obstacle to successful treatment. Herein, we show that cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) expression leads to increased cancer cell survival and attenuated apoptosis under treatment with several chemotherapeutic drugs, anti-HER2 targeted treatment, and endocrine therapy in several breast cancer cell lines tested. The COMP-induced chemoresistance was independent of the breast cancer subtype. Extracellularly delivered recombinant COMP failed to rescue cells from apoptosis while endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-restricted COMP-KDEL conferred resistance to apoptosis, consistent with the localization of COMP in the ER, where it interacted with calpain. Calpain activation was reduced in COMP-expressing cells and maintained at a lower level of activation during treatment with epirubicin. Moreover, the downstream caspases of calpain, caspases -9, -7, and -3, exhibited significantly reduced activation in COMP-expressing cells under chemotherapy treatment. Chemotherapy, when combined with calpain activators, rendered the cells expressing COMP more chemosensitive. Also, the anti-apoptotic proteins phospho-Bcl2 and survivin were increased in COMP-expressing cells upon chemotherapy. Cells expressing a mutant COMP lacking thrombospondin repeats exhibited reduced chemoresistance compared to cells expressing full-length COMP. Evaluation of calcium levels in the ER, cytosol, and mitochondria revealed that COMP expression modulates intracellular calcium homeostasis. Furthermore, patients undergoing chemotherapy or endocrine therapy demonstrated significantly reduced overall survival time when tumors expressed high levels of COMP. This study identifies a novel role of COMP in chemoresistance and calpain inactivation in breast cancer, a discovery with potential implications for anti-cancer therapy.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hanitrarimalala, Veroniaina and Bednarska, Izabela and Murakami, Takashi and Papadakos, Konstantinos S. and Blom, Anna M.}},
  issn         = {{2041-4889}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Nature}},
  series       = {{Cell Death and Disease}},
  title        = {{Intracellular cartilage oligomeric matrix protein augments breast cancer resistance to chemotherapy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41419-024-06872-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41419-024-06872-7}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}