Int J Med Sci 2019; 16(12):1642-1651. doi:10.7150/ijms.38521 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. Third Affiliated Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China
2. School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China
3. Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 101149, China
4. Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China
5. State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
*Xin Jiang and Yehong Tian contributed equally as co-first authors.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer without effective targeted drugs. While breast cancer patients often use acupuncture for the relief of cancer-induced pain or the side effects of chemo- or radiation therapy, little information is known regarding the direct effects of electroacupuncture on TNBC tumor and its potential mechanisms. Here, we created a mice model of TNBC and electroacupuncture with encircled needling around the tumors was given to the animals daily for 3 weeks at 15-20 Hz (3 min, each time). For sham electroacupuncture control, the skin was punctured to a depth of 5 mm and then the needle was quickly withdrawn without electrical stimulation or manual needle manipulation. We found that electroacupuncture significantly inhibited TNBC tumor growth and the inhibitory rate increased gradually overtime. Mechanistic analysis showed that electroacupuncture inhibited tumor angiogenesis by reducing the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), its receptor VEGF-R and neuropilin 1 (NRP-1). Electroacupuncture also led to a significant decrease of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) expression and an increase of tissue inhibitor of MMP (TIMP-2) expression. Additionally, the expression of semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) and nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) p75 in TNBC tissue was significantly upregulated in response to electroacupuncture. Furthermore, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha level in the serum was dramatically reduced after electroacupuncture. These results showed that electroacupuncture could directly inhibit TNBC tumor growth through the inhibition of proteins related to tumor angiogenesis and extracellular matrix, the suppression of TNBC-induced inflammation and the upregulation of nerve growth factor receptors.
Keywords: Triple-negative breast cancer, Electroacupuncture, Encircled needling, Tumor inhibition, Mechanisms