Trypanosoma cruzi infection induces proliferation and impairs migration of a human breast cancer cell line

Breast cancer is considered the type of cancer that most affects women in the world. The triple negative breast cancer is considered aggressive with poor prognosis. In the 1930s Russian researchers observed that T. cruzi has tropism for tumor cells. Since then, this research field has been subject of a numerous of researches. Here, we proposed to investigate the impact of T. cruzi infection on proliferation and migration of triple negative breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231). T. cruzi showed high invasion and multiplication rate in MDA-MB-231 cell line. The infection promoted the multiplication of MDA-MB-231 cell, continuous cell lysis throughout of days of in vitro infection and impaired MDA-MB-231 cell migration. Taken together, these results demonstrated the high susceptibility of MDA-MB-231 cell to T. cruzi and suggested that molecules from T. cruzi may impair host cell migration with potential use to avoid metastasis.

Automated summary

Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among women worldwide. Triple negative breast cancer is known for its aggressive nature and poor prognosis. Researchers have found that T. cruzi has a preference for tumor cells, and this study aimed to investigate the impact of T. cruzi infection on the proliferation and migration of the triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The results showed that T. cruzi had a high invasion and multiplication rate in MDA-MB-231 cells. The infection promoted cell multiplication, caused continuous cell lysis during in vitro infection, and impaired cell migration. These findings suggest that T. cruzi molecules may have potential use in preventing metastasis by inhibiting host cell migration.