Exemestane

Cisplatin, doxorubicin, anastrozole, exemestane, and everolimus (afinitor) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Phycoerythrin (PE)-conjugated mouse anti-human CD44 monoclonal (#MHCD4404) and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated mouse anti-human CD24 monoclonal (#MHCD4201) antibodies were purchased from Molecular Probes (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA). FITC-conjugated mouse anti-human HER2 monoclonal and allophycocyanin (APC)-conjugated mouse anti human HER3 monoclonal (#2223535) antibodies were purchased from Sony Biotechnology Inc. (San Jose, CA, USA). APC- and FITC-conjugated IgG controls were from BD Biosciences.

Mice were injected subcutaneously in the right flank with 0.5×10⁶ EG7 cells per C57BL6 mouse or with 15×10⁶ Granta-519 cells per NGS mouse in 100 μl sterile PBS. After palpable tumors developed, treatments with Letrozole (10 μg/animal) (Sigma), Bicalutamide (100 mg/kg) (Sigma) Anastrazole (200 μg/animal) (Sigma) or Exemestane (250 μg/animal) (Sigma) given subcutaneously once a day was initiated. All the drugs were dissolved in 100% ethanol and further diluted in rapeseed oil as a vehicle. Tumor size were monitored every day with a caliper and tumor volume (TV) was calculated according to the following formula: TV (mm³) = 0.5 × length (mm) × width² (mm²).

Curcumin and exemestane (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) were diluted in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, Sigma-Aldrich). The DDX3, Bcl-xL primary antibodies was obtained from Cell Signaling Technology (Danvers, MA, USA).

DMEM, low-glucose (Dulbecco’s modified eagle’s medium), FBS (fetal bovine serum), penicillin-streptomycin (10×) solution, and PBS (phosphate-buffered saline) were purchased from Biological Industries, Haemek, Israel. Aluminum chloride hydrate, chromium (III) chloride hexahydrate, letrozole, exemestane, testosterone, DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide), deionized water, and ethanol were obtained from Sigma Aldrich, Burlington, MA, USA. TrypLE^TM Express and GlutaMAX^TM were from Gibco, Waltham, MA, USA. Annexin V-FITC Apoptosis Kit and FxCycle^TM PI/RNase Staining Solution were purchased from Invitrogen, Waltham, MA, USA. Cell Proliferation Kit II (XTT) was from Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany. The Halt^TM Protease Inhibitor Coctail (100×) and Pierce^TM BCA Protein Assay Kit were obtained from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA. The lysis buffer for ELISA, Nori Human Apoptosis Regulator BAX ELISA Kit, and Nori Human Bcl-2 ELISA Kit were purchased from Genorise Scientific, Glen Mills, PA, USA. Accutase^TM Cell Detachment was obtained from BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA.