Cancer-associated fibroblast（CAF） promotes migration of human breast cancer cells via activating the p38/MAPK signaling pathway

Abstract:

Objective：To investigate the effects of cancer-associated fibroblast（CAF） on migration of human breast cancer BT549 and MDA-MB-231 cells and its possible molecular mechanism. Methods：Effects of CAF on migration of BT549 and MDA-MB-231 were measured by transwell migration test after treated with CAF supernatant. Effects of CAF on migration related proteins E-cadherin and Vimentin were investigated by Western blot after treated with CAF supernatant. After treating the human breast cancer cell line BT549 and MDA-MB-231 with CAF supernatant，SB203580 was used to inhibit the p38/MAPK pathway，then Transwell migration assay and Western blot were used to detect the changes of migration and the expressions of E-cadherin and Vimentin in BT549 and MDA-MB-231 cells respectively. Results：CAF increased the number of migration cells in BT549 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells（P<0.05），inhibited the expression of E-cadherin（P<0.01） and up-regulated the expression of Vimentin in BT549 and MDA-MB-231 cells（P<0.05）. CAF activated the p38 /MAPK signaling pathway of BT549 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and promoted the expression of p-P38 protein（P<0.01）. The ability of CAF to increase the number of migration cells in BT549 and MDA-MB-231 cells was significantly inhibited（P<0.01），and the expression of E-cadherin protein was up-regulated（P<0.05），while the expression of Vimentin protein was down-regulated（P<0.01） after SB203580 inhibited the p38/MAPK pathway. Conclusion：CAF promotes migration of human breast cancer BT549 and MDA-MB-231 cells via activating the p38/MAPK signaling pathway.