The expression of the more frequently investigated oncogenes/oncosuppressor genes (p53, c-myc, c-erbB-2, bcl-2) and the presence of neuroendocrine cells were assessed in prostatic cancer tissue from patients with localized and metastatic cancer.
The expression levels of the cell apoptosis and tumor metastasis associated proteins B‑cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl‑2), Bcl‑2‑associated X protein, E‑cadherin, Twist, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‑9 and MMP2 were measured via western blotting.
Moreover, the enhanced expression and/or activities of some drug resistance-associated molecules such as Bcl-2, Akt/molecular target of rapamycin (mTOR), nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1) and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) multidrug transporters frequently occur in cancer cells during cancer progression and metastases.
We have previously shown that head and neck tumors exhibit significantly higher Bcl-2 expression in tumor-associated endothelial cells and overexpression of Bcl-2 alone in tumor-associated endothelial cells was sufficient to enhance tumor metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma in a severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mouse model.
The expression of bcl-2 or accumulation of p53 protein in prostate cancer metastases did not significantly influence patient survival or the extent of metastatic disease.
No significant difference was found between the LNs and the primary tumors in bcl-2 positivity (p = 0.538) and DNA aneuploidy (p = 0.35), with a tendency towards negative bcl-2 and less aneuploidy in LN metastases than primary tumors.
This review will focus on the biological function of the Bcl2-inhibitor of transcription (Bit1) protein in the anoikis process, the underlying molecular mechanism of Bit1 apoptotic function, and its role in tumor metastasis.
There was diffuse strong immunopositivity for bcl-2 protein in 100% of nevi and 65% (43/60) of primary and metastatic melanomas. bcl-2 protein was diffusely expressed in 67% (30/39) of primary melanomas and 54% (11/21) of metastases.
Pretreatment Bcl2 expression was specifically associated with distant metastasis; five of six distant metastases occurred in the <40% of patients whose primary tumors were Bcl2 positive.
Since bcl-2 is an apoptosis inhibitor, bcl-2 mRNA expression was measured in 21 metastases of colorectal cancer using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis.
These findings indicate a novel pathway for curcumin regulation of Bcl-2 and provide a key mechanism of anoikis regulation that may be exploited for metastatic cancer treatment.
To shed light on the relationships between over-expression of anti-apoptotic proteins, genomic instability, and the metastatic ability of breast cancer cells, we analyzed genetic changes in tumors and metastases by orthotopically injecting MDA-MB 435 cells transfected with anti-apoptotic genes Bcl-xL or Bcl-2 into nude mice.