Abstract PO3-13-08: D17104: Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Signaling and Other Biomarkers of Fat Metabolism in Human Mammary Adipose Tissue from Women with Malignant Breast Disease
Authors: Ephraim Adam , Pirruccello Jonathan , Palisoul Scott , Marotti Jonathan , Chamberlin Mary 
Published: May 2024

Background: Obesity is a recognized risk factor for the development of metabolic disease and breast cancer possibly due to chronic inflammation mediated by cytokines secreted by adipose tissue. Given this, our group examined differential expression of several markers of chronic inflammation in adipose tissue of both benign and malignant breast tissue from patients. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is an important cytosolic, ligand-dependent transcription factor found within hepatocytes and adipocytes that is upregulated in many types of cancer. AhR promotes the initiation, progression, and metastasis of cancer cells allowing certain cancers to evade immune recognition (Xue et al. Front. Immunology 2018). Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) is an enzyme that generates kynurenine (KYN) from tryptophan (TRP), which acts as an AhR agonist. We sought to determine expression of IDO1 via immunohistochemistry (IHC) in mammary adipose tissue associated with benign or malignant breast. We hypothesized that adipose tissue adjacent to malignant breast tissue may have heightened expression of IDO1 in addition to Cyp1b1, and SPP1; both of which are also markers of increased aryl-hydrocarbon transcriptional activity, compared to adipose tissue noncontiguous to malignant lesions. KYN affects gene expression for insulin resistance and levels are elevated in plasma of older obese women compared to lean women; however, the relationship to breast malignancy is not known. Methods: IDO1 (Cell Signaling, 1:200), Cyp1b1 (Thermo Fisher, 1:300), and SPP1 (Thermo Fisher, 1:200) IHC was performed according to the manufacturers' protocols. Adipose tissue immediately adjacent to, and &gt;2 mm away from, tumors (three DCIS, 11 invasive carcinomas) was evaluated in 14 patients. Adipose tissue in separate tissue blocks from benign breast tissue (three ipsilateral, 11 contralateral) in the same patients was also evaluated. Human plasma KYN levels were assayed by HPLC in the Dartmouth Clinical Pharmacology Shared Resource as described previously (Rojas et al. Obesity 2021). Results: In this preliminary pilot study, there was no difference in staining pattern for IDO1 in adipose tissue present in malignant and benign samples. Two patients showed increased Cyp1b1 and SPP1 staining immediately adjacent to the invasive carcinoma (Figure 1). Patients with benign breast disease did not show increased Cyp1b1 or SPP1 staining. Results will be confirmed using qPCR for mRNA. Plasma samples from patients with benign disease showed a lower level of KYN expression on average (0.370 ug/mL, N = 8) compared to plasma from patients with malignant disease (0.424, N = 10). Additionally, the ratio of KYN:TRP was lower in the benign group (0.065) compared to the cohort with malignancy (0.080). Univariate linear regression will be used to further assess relationships between continuous variables in the study population (e.g., patient age, BMI, KYN plasma levels, benign vs malignant breast disease). Regression lines and the associated slope estimates (b-value) and p-values for regression models will be provided on scatter plots. Conclusions: While there was no difference in IDO1 staining patterns in adipose tissue of malignant and benign samples in this group, tissue samples from patients with invasive carcinoma demonstrated increased Cyp1b1 and SPP1 staining adjacent to the malignant tumor; while benign tissue samples did not show a positive stain. This suggests increased aryl-hydrocarbon transcriptional activity in invasive breast carcinoma—further linking AhR signaling with adipose tissue immune dysregulation and invasive malignancy. Additionally, KYN plasma levels were higher in patients with malignant disease indicating a possible relationship between insulin resistance and breast malignancy. Additional research may offer new insights relating to this important pathway and ultimately treatments aimed at blunting its nefarious effects.

Citation Format: Adam Ephraim, Jonathan Pirruccello, Scott Palisoul, Jonathan Marotti, Mary Chamberlin. D17104: Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Signaling and Other Biomarkers of Fat Metabolism in Human Mammary Adipose Tissue from Women with Malignant Breast Disease [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO3-13-08.