Study on the Role of Iron in Migration of Human Breast Cancer Cells

In this study, the relationship between iron and migration in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells was studied. Iron chelator deferoxamine (DFO) was used to disturb iron homeostasis. To directly observe intracellular iron concentration, synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence elemental mapping was used. Correspondingly, the expression of some related proteins was analyzed using western blot and immunofluorescence staining. Our results showed that after DFO treatment, iron concentration was increased in MDA-MB-231cells, while decreased in MCF-7 cells. With the change of intracellular iron concentration after DFO treatment, the migration of MDA-MB-231 cells was enhanced, while no significant effect was found in MCF-7 cells. Our study suggested that high invasive breast cancer cells have stronger capacity for capturing iron than low invasive ones, especially in iron starvation state, and the increased intracellular iron promotes cancer cells migration by enhancing TGF-beta signaling pathway.