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Updated: May 3, 2026
Isolation and Functional Assessment of Human Breast Cancer Stem Cells from Cell and Tissue Samples
Published on: October 2, 2020
Human Sprouty1 suppresses growth, migration, and invasion in human breast cancer cells
Ahmed H Mekkawy1, Mohammad H Pourgholami, David L Morris
1Cancer Research Laboratories, University of New South Wales Department of Surgery, Sydney, NSW 2217, Australia.
Abstract:
Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Expression of human Sprouty1 (hSpry1) gene is downregulated in most breast cancer patients, implicating it as an important tumor suppressor gene. So, we hypothesized that overexpression of hSpry1 gene may suppress breast cancer cell growth, migration, and invasion. Here, we demonstrate that in breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and T47D, transfection-induced overexpression of hSpry1 reduced cell population, proliferation, and colony formation in vitro without affecting cell apoptosis. Adhesion molecules act as both positive and negative modulators of cellular migration and invasion. Here, we found that overexpression of hSpry1 enhances the initial establishment events in breast cancer cell adhesion to type IV collagen and vitronectin. Moreover, the overexpression of hSpry1 in the highly invasive MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells causes a significant reduction in cellular migration and invasion through Matrigel membranes. In addition, we showed that hSpry1 overexpression prevents VEGF secretion. VEGF is essential for primary tumor growth, migration, and invasion. Thus, our study provides a novel mechanism of tumor suppression activity of hSpry1.
Insights
Overexpressing the human Sprouty1 (hSpry1) gene suppressed breast cancer cell growth and invasion. This study reveals hSpry1
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer death globally.
- Reduced human Sprouty1 (hSpry1) gene expression is observed in many breast cancers, suggesting its role as a tumor suppressor.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential of hSpry1 gene overexpression in suppressing breast cancer cell growth, migration, and invasion.
- To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying hSpry1's tumor suppressor activity.
Main Methods:
- Overexpression of hSpry1 in MDA-MB-231 and T47D breast cancer cell lines via transfection.
- Assessment of cell proliferation, colony formation, apoptosis, adhesion, migration, and invasion.
- Measurement of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) secretion.
Main Results:
- hSpry1 overexpression reduced breast cancer cell population, proliferation, and colony formation without impacting apoptosis.
- hSpry1 enhanced initial cell adhesion to type IV collagen and vitronectin.
- Overexpression of hSpry1 significantly decreased migration and invasion in MDA-MB-231 cells and prevented VEGF secretion.
Conclusions:
- hSpry1 functions as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer by inhibiting cell growth, migration, and invasion.
- hSpry1's mechanism involves enhancing cell adhesion and reducing VEGF secretion.
- Targeting hSpry1 may offer a novel therapeutic strategy for breast cancer treatment.
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