Role of epidermal growth factor receptor signaling in a Pt(II)-resistant human breast cancer cell line

Platinum complexes are currently used for breast cancer therapy, but, as with other drug classes, a series of intrinsic and acquired resistance mechanisms hinder their efficacy. To better understand the mechanisms underlying platinum complexes resistance in breast cancer, we generated a [Pt(O,O'-acac)(?-acac)(DMS)]-resistant MCF-7, denoted as [Pt(acac)]R. [Pt(O,O'-acac)(?-acac)(DMS)] was chosen as previous works showed that it has distinct mechanisms of action from cisplatin, especially with regard to cellular targets. [Pt(acac)]R cells are characterized by increased proliferation rates and aggressiveness with higher PKC-?, BCL-2, MMP-9 and EGFR protein expressions and also by increased expression of various genes covering cell cycle regulation, invasion, survival, and hormone receptors. These [Pt(acac)]R cells also displayed high levels of activated signaling kinases Src, AKT and ERK/2. [Pt(acac)]R cells incubated with [Pt(O,O'-acac)(?-acac)(DMS)], showed a relevant EGFR activation due to PKC-? and Src phosphorylation that provoked proliferation and survival through MERK1/2/ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt pathways. In addition, EGFR shuttled from the plasma membrane to the nucleus maybe acting as co-transcriptional factor. The data suggest that growth and survival of resistant cells rely upon a remarkable increase in EGFR level which, in collaboration with an enhanced role of PKC-? and Src kinases support [Pt(acac)]R cell. It could therefore be assumed that combination treatments targeting both EGFR and PKC-?/Src can improve therapy for breast cancer patients.