LDH-A silencing suppresses breast cancer tumorigenicity through induction of oxidative stress mediated mitochondrial pathway apoptosis

LDH-A, as the critical enzyme accounting for the transformation from pyruvate into lactate, has been demonstrated to be highly expressed in various cancer cells and its silencing has also been approved relating to increased apoptosis in lymphoma cells. In this study, we intend to investigate the correlation between LDH-A and other clinicopathological factors of breast cancer and whether LDH-A silencing could suppress breast cancer growth, and if so the potential mechanisms. 46 breast cancer specimens were collected to study the relation between LDH-A expression and clinicopathological characteristics including menopause, tumor size, node involvement, differentiation, and pathological subtypes classified by ER, PR, and Her-2. shRNAs were designed and applied to silence LDH-A expression in breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. The effects of LDH-A reduction on cancer cells were studied by a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments, including cell growth assay, apoptosis evaluation, oxidative stress detection, transmission electron microscopy observation, and tumor formation assay on nude mice. LDH-A expression was found to correlate significantly with tumor size and to be independent for other clinicopathological factors. LDH-A reduction resulted in an inhibited cancer cell proliferation, elevated intracellular oxidative stress, and induction of mitochondrial pathway apoptosis. Meanwhile, the tumorigenic ability of LDH-A deficient cancer cells was significantly limited in both breast cancer xenografts. The Ki67 positive cancer cells were significantly reduced in LDH-A deficiency tumor samples, while the apoptosis ratio was enhanced. Our results suggested that LDH-A inhibition might offer a promising therapeutic strategy for breast cancer.