Enhancing doxorubicin efficacy through inhibition of aspartate transaminase in triple-negative breast cancer cells

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines are identified to overexpress aspartate transaminase (GOT1), which can potentially control the intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) through NADPH synthesis and enhances tumor growth. In this study, the impact of GOT1 on the efficacy of doxorubicin was investigated. Following doxorubicin administration, TNBC cells acquire metabolic alteration, causing increased glutamine flux for the synthesis of aspartate which can be converted into OAA by GOT1. Subsequently, this OAA is converted into malate and then pyruvate, maintaining the NADP(+)/NADPH ratio which neutralize doxorubicin-induced oxidative stress. Repression of GOT1 using the shRNAs for GOT1 resulted in doxorubicin-induced formation of ROS, thereby increasing doxorubicin sensitivity. The enhanced efficacy of doxorubicin by simultaneous repression of GOT1 was also indicated in an in vivo tumor model of TNBC. These results demonstrate that targeting GOT1 in TNBCs may provide a novel therapeutic approach for improving the efficacy of chemotherapy in patients with these refractory tumors.

Keywords: Aspartate transaminase; Chemotherapy; Glutamine metabolism; Triple-negative breast cancer.