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The tissue expression of MCT3, MCT8, and MCT9 genes in women with breast cancer

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Abstract

Background

Breast cancer (BC) is a common malignancy with a high mortality rate. Malignant cell transformation is associated with metabolic changes. One group of proteins that are affected is the monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs-SLC16A). The MCTs comprise 14 members, and they play an important role in the growth, proliferation, and metabolism of cancer cells by transporting monocarboxylates such as lactate, pyruvate and thyroid hormones.

Objective

We aimed to evaluate the expression of MCT3 (SLC16A8), MCT8 (SLC16A2) and MCT9 (SLC16A9) genes in breast cancer samples, comparing to normal adjacent tissues.

Methods

Forty paired breast cancer tumor samples, the adjacent non-tumor and five healthy tissues were collected. Three cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and SKBR3) were also analyzed. The expression of SLC16A8, SLC16A2 and SLC16A9 were assessed using quantitative real-time PCR. The relationship between gene expression with the pathological features of the tumors, and the hormone receptors status of the patient’s tumors were also analyzed.

Results

There was a significantly lower expression of the MCT3 gene in tumor samples compared to adjacent normal tissue and healthy samples (p value < 0.05). There was a significant difference in the expression of all three candidate genes between the BC tissues and normal tissues, and for the, tissues with different hormone receptor status and the molecular subtypes. Altered MCT8 and MCT9 gene expression was associated with a reduced survival

Conclusion

MCT3 expression is significantly downregulated in breast cancer tissue. MCT3 may represent a novel therapeutic target in breast cancer patients, or in some hormone receptor subgroups.

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Availability of data and material

The data that support the findings of this study are available.

Abbreviations

BC:

Breast cancer

ER:

Estrogen receptor

HER2:

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2

MCTs:

Monocarboxylate transporters

LDHs:

Lactate dehydrogenases

AHD:

Allan–Herndon–Dudley syndrome

HPRT1:

Hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase1

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Acknowledgements

This study is financially supported by Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, in 2018. All parts of the work were carried out in the ‘Genetic laboratory of Ali Asghar Children’s’ and Rasoul Akram Hospitals, Tehran, Iran. The authors of the current study would like to express their deep thanks to all staff of these hospitals.

Funding

This study is financially supported by Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Genetics and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran

    Ehsan Sohrabi, Masoumeh Moslemi & Ali Zekri

  2. Molecular Biology Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran

    Ehsan Rezaie

  3. Department of Surgery, Breast Department of Rasool Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran

    Nahid Nafissi

  4. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

    Mansoor Khaledi & Hamed Afkhami

  5. Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Javad Fathi

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  1. Ehsan Sohrabi
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Contributions

ES, NN, AZ, MK and JF are major contributors in writing the manuscript and design, MM, EH, MK, HA participated in writing the manuscript, MK, JF, HA and MM participated in writing the manuscript and data interpretation, NN, ES and A.Z participated in design, participated in manuscript writing, and conducted statistics. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Nahid Nafissi or Ali Zekri.

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Conflict of interest

Ehsan Sohrabi, Masoumeh Moslemi, Ehsan Rezaie, Nahid Nafissi, Mansoor Khaledi, Hamed Afkhami, Javad Fathi and Ali Zekri declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran with code number IR.IUMS.FMD.REC.1397.159.

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Sohrabi, E., Moslemi, M., Rezaie, E. et al. The tissue expression of MCT3, MCT8, and MCT9 genes in women with breast cancer. Genes Genom 43, 1065–1077 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13258-021-01116-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13258-021-01116-w

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