Background: Tumor associated antigens can be viably used to enhance host immune response. Objectives: The immunomodulatory effect of biogenic selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) was compared between treated and untreated mice with crude antigens of 4T1 cells. Materials and Methods: Female inbred BALB/c mice (60) were injected by cancinogenic 4T1 cells causing breast cancer. After 10 days, all tumor ...

BACKGROUND As therapies for systemic cancer improve and patients survive longer, the risk for brain metastases increases. We evaluated whether immune mechanisms are involved in the development of brain metastasis. METHODS We conducted our studies using BALB/c mice bearing syngeneic 4T1 mammary adenocarcinoma cells in the mammary gland. RESULTS The brains of mice bearing 4T1 tumors at day 14...

The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis proposes that CSCs are responsible for metastasis and disease recurrence. Therefore, targeting CSCs has the potential to significantly improve outcomes for cancer patients. The OCT4 transcription factor gene is a master gene that plays a key role in the self-renewal and pluripotency of stem cells. In this study, we introduced an OCT4 reporting vector into 4...

Cancers adversely affect organismal physiology. To date, the genes within a patient responsible for systemically spreading cancer-induced physiological disruption remain elusive. To identify host genes responsible for transmitting disruptive, cancer-driven signals, we thoroughly analyzed the transcriptome of a suite of host organs from mice bearing 4T1 breast cancer, and discovered complexly re...

Velcade (also known as PS-341 or Bortezomib) is a highly selective and reversible inhibitor of the 26S proteasome and is approved for the treatment of patients with advanced multiple myeloma. Here we investigated the anti-proliferative effect of Velcade on 4T1 breast cancer and B16F10 melanoma cells and evaluated the mechanism of action. It was found that two cell lines are differentially sensi...

iNKT cells are CD1d-restricted T cells that are rapidly activated in response to antigen and play a key role in promoting adaptive anti-tumor immunity. Surprisingly, we found that mice bearing 4T1 breast cancer CD8+ T cells inhibited spontaneous metastases in the absence of iNKT cells, suggesting that iNKT cells were suppressing the onset of CD8 + anti-tumor T cell responses. iNKT-deficient (iN...

Cancer cells adapt their metabolism during tumorigenesis. We studied two isogenic breast cancer cells lines (highly metastatic 4T1; nonmetastatic 67NR) to identify differences in their glucose and glutamine metabolism in response to metabolic and environmental stress. Dynamic magnetic resonance spectroscopy of (13)C-isotopomers showed that 4T1 cells have higher glycolytic and tricarboxylic acid...

Although it may sound unpleasant, camel urine has been consumed extensively for years in the Middle East as it is believed to be able to treat a wide range of diseases such as fever, cold, or even cancer. People usually take it by mixing small drops with camel milk or take it directly. The project aims to study the effects of camel urine in inhibiting the growth potential and metastatic ability...

BACKGROUND Metastasis is the major cause of cancer related death and targeting the process of metastasis has been proposed as a strategy to combat cancer. Therefore, to develop candidate drugs that target the process of metastasis is very important. In the preliminary studies, we found that schisandrin B (Sch B), a naturally-occurring dibenzocyclooctadiene lignan with very low toxicity, could s...

Early detection of breast cancer is the most effective way to improve the survival rate in women. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers high spatial resolution and good anatomic details, and its lower sensitivity can be improved by using targeted molecular imaging. In this study, AS1411 aptamer was conjugated to Fe3O4@Au nanoparticles for specific targeting of mouse mammary carcinoma (4T1) ce...