Center for Metabolomic Studies Seminar Series: “Dissecting AADAT Functions to Enable Low-Toxicity Metabolic Therapies of TNBC”
Speaker:
Arun Sreekumar, PhD
Charles C. Bell Jr. Endowed Professor of Cell Biology
Co-Director, Center for Translational Metabolism and Health Disparities
Co-Leader, Tumor Biology Program
Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine
Presentation: “Dissecting AADAT Functions to Enable Low-Toxicity Metabolic Therapies of TNBC”
Abstract:
Multiple hallmarks including escape of immune-surveillance, and aberrant metabolism (Warburg effect) contribute to tumor metastasis. Anti-immune checkpoint therapies are being widely employed in the clinic to treat patients with advanced disease. However, these treatment regimens still benefit a small subset of patients, with efficacy seen only in few cancer types that excludes triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). This, in part, reflects the complex nature of cancer-host interaction that drives alterations in tumor-promoting hallmarks resulting in the development of mechanisms driving therapeutic resistance and metastasis. Importantly, the interplay between these altered tumor-associated hallmarks, their role in remodeling the tumor microenvironment, mechanism(s) by which they are regulated and the way they collectively promote tumor metastasis are unclear. Studies that address these knowledge gaps have the potential to identify distinct regulators for these hallmarks that can be therapeutically targeted in aggressive tumors such as TNBCs. Our studies have identified a metabolic enzyme AADAT, that regulates immune cell infiltration and TNBC progression. The presentation will focus on how the AADAT remodels the TME and promotes TNBC progression. It will also discuss preliminary insights on how our findings have resulted in enhancing the response of TNBC tumors to immune checkpoint inhibition therapy.
Sponsored by the Center for Metabolomic Studies at Georgetown Lombardi