Epoxyeicosanoids (EETs) Promote The Cancer Stem Cell State by Preventing Breast Cancer Cells Differentiation

Date
2014-05-21
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Abstract
Our goal is to examine the role of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) – omega-6 poly-unsaturated fatty acid metabolites - in modulating breast cancer cell plasticity manifest in the discrete attractor state transitions between cancerous and differentiated states. We used an in vitro breast cancer cell differentiation system, MDA-MB231 that exhibited two quasi-discrete subpopulations representing a stem-like and a differentiated state. We found that elevated EETs suppressed the vitaminD-induced shift of the MDA-MB231 cells towards the differentiated state. Moreover, subpopulation gene expression profiles of cells exposed to EETs robustly identified stem cell-like and differentiated subpopulations as two discrete clusters, regardless of EETs. Interestingly, EETs promoted “stemness” and metastasis genes, while suppressed differentiation related genes, suggesting that EETs not only blocked the switch between the two attractors but also affected cell-intrinsic attractor properties. Our findings suggest that anti-EETs agents may have therapeutic or preventive utility against breast cancer that could be further explored.
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Keywords
Education--Health, Biology, Biology--Cell
Citation
El Kadiri, Z. (2014). Epoxyeicosanoids (EETs) Promote The Cancer Stem Cell State by Preventing Breast Cancer Cells Differentiation (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25928