Abstract 2461: SLC5A8: A strategic target for advanced metastatic breast cancer
Authors: Sabarish Ramachandran, Rajneesh Pathania, Ravi N. Padia, Selvakumar Elangovan, Veena Coothankandaswamy, Puttur D. Prasad, Vadivel Ganapathy, Muthusamy Thangaraju
Journal: Cancer Research (2014)

Abstract Despite intense efforts and great advances in cancer research, breast cancer remains the leading cause of death among women worldwide. Most breast cancer-related deaths are not due to cancer at the primary site, but rather due to metastasis, a process in which cancer cells spread from the primary site to distant secondary sites like lung, bones and brain. However, the molecular mechanism by which tumor cells invade from primary tumor site to distant metastasis has not been identified. Recently, we identified a tumor suppressor SLC5A8, which is not only prevent the mammary tumor incidence but also blocks tumor-metastasis by inactivating several metastasis-deriving molecules. SLC5A8, a transporter for small-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and monocarboxylates, is silenced in more than 10 different types of cancers including breast cancer. In breast cancer, irrespective of estrogen-receptor status SLC5A8 is inactivated in more than 90% of breast tumor tissues and in breast cancer cell lines. Ectopic expression of SLC5A8 in human breast cancer cells leads to translocation of the anti-apoptotic protein survivin to the plasma membrane through protein-protein interaction, thereby depleting nuclear survivin level. Further, tetracycline-inducible SLC5A8 expression in human breast cancer cells significantly reduced mammary tumor growth. In addition, functional inactivation of SLC5A8 in human immortalized normal mammary epithelial cells by lentivirus expressing shRNA showed differential regulation of genes that are involved in cellular transformation, oncogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) and tumor metastasis. This is a totally unexpected finding and represents first of its kind for a plasma membrane transporter where mere expression itself, independent of its substrates, leads to tumor suppression. Reinforcing our findings further, deletion of Slc5a8 in mice is associated with increased stem/progenitor cells and mammary gland hyperplasia. By crossing the Slc5a8-null mice with spontaneous mouse mammary tumor mice, we observed increased cancer-initiating stem cells, early onset of mammary tumor formation and increased incidence of lung metastasis. More fascinatingly, mammary gland-specific overexpression of Slc5a8 or induction of endogenous Slc5a8 expression efficiently protects mice from breast cancer and associated lung metastasis resulting in extended life-span. Overall, our study provide a strong mechanism based evidence that SLC5A8 is a novel tumor suppressor in the mammary epithelium and it could be used as a potential new therapeutic target for treatment of breast cancer. Citation Format: Sabarish Ramachandran, Rajneesh Pathania, Ravi N. Padia, Selvakumar Elangovan, Veena Coothankandaswamy, Puttur D. Prasad, Vadivel Ganapathy, Muthusamy Thangaraju. SLC5A8: A strategic target for advanced metastatic breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2461. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2461