Sublethal heat treatment promotes breast cancer metastasis and its molecular mechanism revealed by quantitative proteomic analysis

Abstract

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a frequently used thermal ablation technique for breast tumors. The study aimed to identify the effect of sublethal heat treatment on biological function of breast cancer cells andreveal its potential molecular mechanism. The expression profile of dysregulated proteins in sublethal heattreated breast cancer cells was analyzed by quantitative proteomic analysis. The differentially expressedproteins in the sublethal heat treated breast cancer were identified. The potential biological functions ofthese proteins were evaluated. The proliferation and invasion ability of breast cancer cells were enhancedafter sublethal heat treatment. The expression profile of proteins in sublethal heat treated breast cancercells was abundant, and most of which were newly discovered. A total of 206 differentially expressedproteins were identified. Among them, 101 proteins were downregulated while 105 proteins wereupregulated. GO and KEGG analysis indicated that various systems were involved in the process of sublethalheat treatment including cancer, immune system, et al. Immunohistochemistry staining showed that theexpression of Heat shock protein 1B, NOB1 and CRIP1 was highly expressed while the expression of BCLAF1was lower in sublethal heat treated group. The proliferation and invasion ability of breast cancer cells wereenhanced after sublethal heat treatment. Sublethal heat treatment caused gene alterations in cancer andimmune system. Heat shock protein 1B, NOB1 and CRIP1 were upregulated while BCLAF1 was downregulatedin breast cancer after sublethal heat treatment.