Growth suppression of MCF-7 cancer cell-derived xenografts in nude mice by caveolin-1

Caveolin-1 is an essential structural constituent of caveolae membrane domains that has been implicated in mitogenic signaling and oncogenesis. However, the exact functional role of caveolin-1 still remains controversial. In this report, utilizing MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cells stably transfected with caveolin-1 (MCF-7/cav-1 cells), we demonstrate that caveolin-1 expression dramatically inhibits invasion and migration of these cells. Importantly, in vivo experiments employing xenograft tumor models demonstrated that expression of caveolin-1 results in significant growth inhibition of breast tumors. Moreover, a dramatic delay in tumor progression was observed in MCF-7/cav-1 cells as compared with MCF-7 cells. Histological analysis of tumor sections demonstrated a marked decrease in the percentage of proliferating tumor cells (Ki-67 assay) along with an increase in apoptotic tumor cells (TUNEL assay) in MCF-7/cav-1-treated animals. Our current findings provide for the first time in vivo evidence that caveolin-1 can indeed function as a tumor suppressor in human breast adenocarcinoma derived from MCF-7 cells rather than as a tumor promoter.