Cannabinoid receptors (CBR) are G-protein coupled receptors that bind cannabinoid ligands of exogenous and endogenous origin and are part of endocannabinoid system. There are two types of CBR: type 1 (CB1, gene CNR1) expressing mainly in neural cells, and type 2 (CB2, gene CNR2) expressing typically in immune cells. Three isoforms of CB1 receptor are known: CB1, CB1a, and CB1b, and two isoforms of CB2 receptor: CB2A and CB2B. Breast cancer is the most common form of malignancy in women, presenting 30 % of all forms of cancer in women. Based on the expression of the hormone receptors (HR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), three types of breast cancer are distinguished: HR-positive or luminal, HER2-positive, and triple-negative breast cancer. In breast cancer cells CBR expression has been confirmed. Several studies have shown the tumor modulating effect of cannabinoids, and both positive and negative effects are known. Our study aimed to overview known transcripts of the genes CNR1 and CNR2 and to characterise their expression in breast cancer cell lines on RNA level. In the first bioinformatic part of the thesis, we reviewed the expression data and known transcripts of the genes CNR1 and CNR2 in the Ensembl, NCBI and UniProt databases. In the RefSeq database, we found 11 transcripts of isoform CB1, 1 of isoform CB1b, 1 of isoform CB2B, and none of isoforms CB1a and CB2A. In the second laboratory part of the thesis, we determined the level of CBR expression on selected breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, T-47D, SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-361) that differ HR and HER2 expression, and two control samples (SH-SY5Y and brain tissue). We isolated RNA from the samples and reverse transcribed it into cDNA. We performed quantitative PCR with TaqMan assays that cover the largest number of different transcripts of the genes of interest CNR1 and CNR2 and reference genes RPLP0 and HPRT1, which we selected based on related studies. From the obtained results, we determined the expression levels of genes of interest using methods for relative quantification. Contrary to our expectations, we were unable to detect CNR1 gene expression in any analysed breast cancer cell line. We could not determine the expression level of gene CNR2 due to not suitable positive control. The study will be extended to several breast cancer cell lines, characterization on protein level, and finding appropriate positive and negative controls.
|