Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
Volume 24, Issue 22, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijms242216307
Keywords
connective tissue growth factor (CTGF); kahweol; triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)
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This study highlights the clinical significance of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) as a prognostic marker in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and explores the potential therapeutic effects of kahweol, a coffee diterpene molecule, in TNBC treatment. The findings demonstrate that CTGF is involved in migratory pathways relevant to TNBC treatment, and kahweol can regulate CTGF expression to suppress cell motility in TNBC.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by aggressive behavior and limited treatment options, necessitating the identification of novel therapeutic targets. In this study, we investigated the clinical significance of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) as a prognostic marker and explored the potential therapeutic effects of kahweol, a coffee diterpene molecule, in TNBC treatment. Initially, through a survival analysis on breast cancer patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we found that CTGF exhibited significant prognostic effects exclusively in TNBC patients. To gain mechanistic insights, we performed the functional annotation and gene set enrichment analyses, revealing the involvement of CTGF in migratory pathways relevant to TNBC treatment. Subsequently, in vitro experiments using MDA-MB 231 cells, a representative TNBC cell line, demonstrated that recombinant CTGF (rCTGF) administration enhanced cell motility, whereas CTGF knockdown using CTGF siRNA resulted in reduced motility. Notably, rCTGF restored kahweol-reduced cell motility, providing compelling evidence for the role of CTGF in mediating kahweol's effects. At the molecular level, kahweol downregulated the protein expression of CTGF as well as critical signaling molecules, such as p-ERK, p-P38, p-PI3K/AKT, and p-FAK, associated with cell motility. In summary, our findings propose CTGF as a potential prognostic marker for guiding TNBC treatment and suggest kahweol as a promising antitumor compound capable of regulating CTGF expression to suppress cell motility in TNBC. These insights hold promise for the development of targeted therapies and improved clinical outcomes for TNBC patients.
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