Estrogen withdrawal-induced NF-κB activity and Bcl-3 expression in breast cancer cells: Roles in growth and hormone independence

About one-third of breast cancers express a functional estrogen (β-estradiol [E2]) receptor (ER) and are initially dependent on E2 for growth and survival but eventually progress to hormone independence. We show here that ER⁺, E2-independent MCF-7/LCC1 cells derived from E2-dependent MCF-7 cells contain elevated basal NF-κB activity and elevated expression of the transcriptional coactivator Bcl-3 compared with the parental MCF-7 line. LCC1 NF-κB activity consists primarily of p50 dimers, although low levels of a p65/p50 complex are also present. The ER^- breast cancer cell lines harbor abundant levels of both NF-κB complexes. In contrast, nuclear extracts from MCF-7 cells contain a significantly lower level of p50 and p65 than do LCC1 cells. Estrogen 'withdrawal increases both NF-κB DNA binding activity and expression of Bcl-3 in MCF-7 and LCC1 cells in vitro and in vivo. Tumors derived from MCF-7 cells ectopically expressing Bcl-3 remain E2 dependent but display a markedly higher tumor establishment and growth rate compared to controls. Expression of a stable form of IκBα in LCC1 cells severely reduced nuclear expression of p65 and the p65/p50 DNA binding heterodimer. Whereas LCC1 tumors in nude mice were stable or grew, LCC1 (IκBα) tumors regressed after E2 withdrawal. Thus, both p50/Bcl-3- and p65/p50-associated NF-κB activities are activated early in progression and serve differential roles in growth and hormone independence, respectively. We propose that E2 withdrawal may initiate selection for hormone independence in breast cancer cells by activation of NF-κB and Bcl-3, which could then supplant E2 by providing both survival and growth signals.