My long term career goal is to become an independent physician scientist who focuses on drug resistance in breast cancer and combines laboratory based mechanistic research and clinical trial design and implementation. My current efforts are devoted to studying how to overcome antiestrogen resistance by modulating epithelial stromal metabolic interactions in breast cancer utilizing molecular biology techniques. My mentor Dr. Richard Pestell has expertise in breast cancer metabolism and the tumor microenvironment. My co-mentor Dr. Scott Waldman has expertise in clinical trial design and implementation. The Kimmel Cancer Center where I work is an NCI designated Cancer Center with a well-established and vibrant research program and multiple core facilities that will allow me to carry out this proposal. A career development plan based on experimental work in Dr. Pestell's lab, twice weekly interactions with Dr. Pestell, and weekly with Dr. Waldman as well as mentorship committee meetings every two months and participation in workshops and seminars is being implemented to learn technical and leadership skills. Relapsed or refractory cancer after antiestrogen therapy defines antiestrogen resistance clinically and this is a major public health issue. Antiestrogen resistance occurs in 40% of ER+ patients and it is most often fatal. We lack good biomarkers and treatments for antiestrogen resistance. It has recently been discovered that metabolic coupling with high mitochondrial metabolism in epithelial cells with low metabolism in the stroma is associated with antiestrogen resistance. We have recently demonstrated that a tumor stroma with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), low oxidative phosphorylation metabolism (OXPHOS) and high glycolysis is found in aggressive breast cancers. This type of stromal metabolism leads to metabolic coupling and transfer of high energy catabolites to the epithelial cancer cells and is associated with antiestrogen resistance. My overall hypothesis is that metabolic coupling drives antiestrogen resistance and reversal of epithelial-stromal metabolic coupling will overcome antiestrogen resistance in breast cancer. The project aims are: i) To test the hypothesis that OXPHOS metabolic coupling is sufficient to induce antiestrogen resistance in breast cancer. I will use an in vitro stromal-epithelial cell model of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer. I will genetically modify cells in order to generate tight epithelial-stromal metabolic coupling with epithelial cancer cells with high OXPHOS metabolism via upregulation of monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1), nuclear respiration factor 1 (NRF1) and mitoNEET and stromal cells with low OXPHOS metabolism and high catabolism via upregulation of monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) to determine if changes in the metabolism of the epithelial or stromal compartment are sufficient to increase antiestrogen resistance. These cell lines that I generate will be cultured with either fibroblasts or ER+ carcinoma cells. Antiestrogen resistance will be measured by quantifying apoptosis and proliferation of the breast cancer cells after treatment with tamoxifen and fulvestrant. We will also determine if these cell lines induce antiestrogen resistance using xenograft models. ii) To test the hypothesis that expression of genes linked to OXPHOS metabolic coupling are associated with antiestrogen resistance in a cohort of patients. I will stain a human tumor microarray (TMA) of patients with ER+ breast cancer treated with tamoxifen for the proteins listed in aim 1. I will correlate the expression of these proteins by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in the stromal and epithelial compartments with progression free survival (PFS). We will also perform gene expression profiling (GEP) of the carcinoma cells that I generate to determine if we can generate a signature that predicts antiestrogen resistance. iii) To test the hypothesis that drugs that modulate OXPHOS, glycolysis or reactive oxygen species will overcome antiestrogen resistance. I will use our epithelial-stromal coculture models of antiestrogen resistant breast cancer, including the genetically modified cells generated for aim 1 to determine if drugs that metabolically uncouple epithelial and stromal cells can overcome antiestrogen resistance. Specifically, I will test drugs that increase or decrease OXPHOS, inhibit glycolysis or inhibit oxidative stress to determine their effects on carcinoma cell growth. I will also study the functional effects of these drugs in vitro by studying glucose uptake, mitochondrial activity and ROS measurement to ensure expected effects. I will also study the effects of the antioxidant n-acetylcysteine (NAC) on OXPHOS metabolic coupling in humans. Subjects with breast cancer are being enrolled in a pilot clinical trial with NAC where cancer tissue is obtained pre-NAC and post-NAC treatment. The effects of NAC on stromal Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) and MCT4 expression will be studied by IHC. This study and career development plan will allow me to gain the skills to become an independent investigator and the research will discover mechanisms of antiestrogen drug resistance, develop biomarkers and lay the foundations for drug development. I hope to become a physician scientist who links the laboratory and clinical research aspects to improve the lives of patients with breast cancer.

Public Health Relevance

Estrogen receptor positive breast cancer is the most common type of breast cancer. It recurs in up to 40% of patients after antiestrogen therapy and is therefore a major public health issue. We propose to study the causes of antiestrogen resistance and we will focus on the altered metabolism found in breast cancer. The discovery of new pathways that lead to antiestrogen resistance will enable us to better predict who will be resistant to antiestrogen drugs and how to overcome this with targeted drugs.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Clinical Investigator Award (CIA) (K08)
Project #
4K08CA175193-04
Application #
9128565
Study Section
Subcommittee I - Transistion to Independence (NCI)
Program Officer
Ojeifo, John O
Project Start
2013-09-12
Project End
2018-08-31
Budget Start
2016-09-01
Budget End
2017-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Thomas Jefferson University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
053284659
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19107
Bisetto, Sara; Whitaker-Menezes, Diana; Wilski, Nicole A et al. (2018) Monocarboxylate Transporter 4 (MCT4) Knockout Mice Have Attenuated 4NQO Induced Carcinogenesis; A Role for MCT4 in Driving Oral Squamous Cell Cancer. Front Oncol 8:324
Wilde, Lindsay; Roche, Megan; Domingo-Vidal, Marina et al. (2017) Metabolic coupling and the Reverse Warburg Effect in cancer: Implications for novel biomarker and anticancer agent development. Semin Oncol 44:198-203
Curry, Joseph; Johnson, Jennifer; Tassone, Patrick et al. (2017) Metformin effects on head and neck squamous carcinoma microenvironment: Window of opportunity trial. Laryngoscope 127:1808-1815
Gooptu, Mahasweta; Whitaker-Menezes, Diana; Sprandio, John et al. (2017) Mitochondrial and glycolytic metabolic compartmentalization in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Semin Oncol 44:204-217
Monti, Daniel; Sotgia, Federica; Whitaker-Menezes, Diana et al. (2017) Pilot study demonstrating metabolic and anti-proliferative effects of in vivo anti-oxidant supplementation with N-Acetylcysteine in Breast Cancer. Semin Oncol 44:226-232
Johnson, Jennifer M; Cotzia, Paolo; Fratamico, Roberto et al. (2017) MCT1 in Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Monocarboxylate Metabolism and Aggressive Breast Cancer. Front Cell Dev Biol 5:27
Mikkilineni, Lekha; Whitaker-Menezes, Diana; Domingo-Vidal, Marina et al. (2017) Hodgkin lymphoma: A complex metabolic ecosystem with glycolytic reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment. Semin Oncol 44:218-225
Curry, Joseph M; Tassone, Patrick; Cotzia, Paolo et al. (2016) Multicompartment metabolism in papillary thyroid cancer. Laryngoscope 126:2410-2418
Ko, Ying-Hui; Domingo-Vidal, Marina; Roche, Megan et al. (2016) TP53-inducible Glycolysis and Apoptosis Regulator (TIGAR) Metabolically Reprograms Carcinoma and Stromal Cells in Breast Cancer. J Biol Chem 291:26291-26303
Fiorillo, Marco; Lamb, Rebecca; Tanowitz, Herbert B et al. (2016) Repurposing atovaquone: targeting mitochondrial complex III and OXPHOS to eradicate cancer stem cells. Oncotarget 7:34084-99

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