Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells
Metazoan living cells exposed to microgravity undergo dramatic changes in morphological and biological properties, which ultimately lead to apoptosis and phenotype reprogramming. However, apoptosis can occur at very different rates depending on the experimental model, and in some cases, cells seem t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/2/862 |
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| author | Noemi Monti Maria Grazia Masiello Sara Proietti Angela Catizone Giulia Ricci Abdel Halim Harrath Saleh H. Alwasel Alessandra Cucina Mariano Bizzarri |
| author_facet | Noemi Monti Maria Grazia Masiello Sara Proietti Angela Catizone Giulia Ricci Abdel Halim Harrath Saleh H. Alwasel Alessandra Cucina Mariano Bizzarri |
| author_sort | Noemi Monti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Metazoan living cells exposed to microgravity undergo dramatic changes in morphological and biological properties, which ultimately lead to apoptosis and phenotype reprogramming. However, apoptosis can occur at very different rates depending on the experimental model, and in some cases, cells seem to be paradoxically protected from programmed cell death during weightlessness. These controversial results can be explained by considering the notion that the behavior of adherent cells dramatically diverges in respect to that of detached cells, organized into organoids-like, floating structures. We investigated both normal (MCF10A) and cancerous (MCF-7) breast cells and found that appreciable apoptosis occurs only after 72 h in MCF-7 cells growing in organoid-like structures, in which major modifications of cytoskeleton components were observed. Indeed, preserving cell attachment to the substrate allows cells to upregulate distinct Akt- and ERK-dependent pathways in MCF-7 and MCF-10A cells, respectively. These findings show that survival strategies may differ between cell types but cannot provide sufficient protection against weightlessness-induced apoptosis alone if adhesion to the substrate is perturbed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:35:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e54872f57df24402a82e275c2fdf87e6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:35:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-e54872f57df24402a82e275c2fdf87e62023-12-03T13:29:33ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672021-01-0122286210.3390/ijms22020862Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast CellsNoemi Monti0Maria Grazia Masiello1Sara Proietti2Angela Catizone3Giulia Ricci4Abdel Halim Harrath5Saleh H. Alwasel6Alessandra Cucina7Mariano Bizzarri8Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Surgery “Pietro Valdoni”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Surgery “Pietro Valdoni”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Anatomy, Histology, Forensic-Medicine and Orthopedics, Section of Histology and Embryology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Experimental Medicine, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Surgery “Pietro Valdoni”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyMetazoan living cells exposed to microgravity undergo dramatic changes in morphological and biological properties, which ultimately lead to apoptosis and phenotype reprogramming. However, apoptosis can occur at very different rates depending on the experimental model, and in some cases, cells seem to be paradoxically protected from programmed cell death during weightlessness. These controversial results can be explained by considering the notion that the behavior of adherent cells dramatically diverges in respect to that of detached cells, organized into organoids-like, floating structures. We investigated both normal (MCF10A) and cancerous (MCF-7) breast cells and found that appreciable apoptosis occurs only after 72 h in MCF-7 cells growing in organoid-like structures, in which major modifications of cytoskeleton components were observed. Indeed, preserving cell attachment to the substrate allows cells to upregulate distinct Akt- and ERK-dependent pathways in MCF-7 and MCF-10A cells, respectively. These findings show that survival strategies may differ between cell types but cannot provide sufficient protection against weightlessness-induced apoptosis alone if adhesion to the substrate is perturbed.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/2/862microgravityapoptosiscytoskeletonAktERKvinculin |
| spellingShingle | Noemi Monti Maria Grazia Masiello Sara Proietti Angela Catizone Giulia Ricci Abdel Halim Harrath Saleh H. Alwasel Alessandra Cucina Mariano Bizzarri Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells International Journal of Molecular Sciences microgravity apoptosis cytoskeleton Akt ERK vinculin |
| title | Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells |
| title_full | Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells |
| title_fullStr | Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells |
| title_short | Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells |
| title_sort | survival pathways are differently affected by microgravity in normal and cancerous breast cells |
| topic | microgravity apoptosis cytoskeleton Akt ERK vinculin |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/2/862 |
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