The protective effect of aerobic exercise on breast cancer by TGFβ protein and Smad-3 and MMP2 gene in female mice

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of aerobic exercise on breast cancer by TGFβ protein and Smad-3 and MMP2 gene in female mice.
Material and Twenty-four female Balb/c mice were divided into control and exercise groups. Estrogen-receptor dependent breast cancer cells (MC4-L2) were injected into the subcutaneous area of the right flank of the mice. the exercise group performed endurance exercise five sessions per week at an intensity of 60% to 65% VO2max for 10 weeks. Each session lasted 60 minutes. After appearance of the tumor, the length and width of the tumor were measured by a digital caliper once a week. Finally, the mice were sacrificed, tumor tissue was removed and immediately frozen and kept at -70° C. The level of TGFβ protein was measured by western blot and expression of Smad and mmp2 genes in the samples was measured by Real Time PCR. Data were analyzed by t-test. P The results showed that aerobic continuous training significantly increased mean expression of Smad-3 (p=0/033) and TGF-β protein mean concentration (P=0/000) in tumor tissue in the endurance group compared to those in the control group. Also, the results showed that aerobic training significantly decreased the mean expression of MMP-2 in tumor tissue in the endurance group compared to that in the control group (p=0/044).
According to the results, It seems that continuous aerobic training may be an effective intervention to reduce breast cancer progression.