Date of Graduation
5-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Advisor/Mentor
Rajaram, Narasimhan
Committee Member/Reader
Jensen, Morten
Committee Member/Second Reader
Wolchok, Jeffrey C.
Abstract
Breast cancer metastasis is the main cause for mortality in breast cancer patients. However, knowledge of metastatic recurrence is limited, and there is a need to understand metastatic recurrence in order to treat breast cancer patients more effectively. Highly invasive metastatic breast cancer has shown to exhibit metabolic adaptability, transitioning from glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation in the presence of microenvironmental stress. NADH and FAD are naturally occurring cofactor products during glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, respectively, and they are of particular importance during these metabolic processes due to their endogenous fluorescence. Measuring the ratio of fluorescence intensities of these cofactors through a redox ratio allows for the quantification of the comparative levels of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation occurring in breast cancer cells. Two-photon imaging was used to assess the redox ratio of 4T1KOT, a variant of highly metastatic 4T1 cells with deletion of the TWIST gene, a gene known to promote metastasis. This thesis reports that 4T1KOT cells, compared to metastatic 4T1 cells, have a decreased redox ratio at normoxia conditions, and they also lose their metabolic adaptability under hypoxia-reoxygenation stress. This study demonstrates that metabolic adaptability to hypoxia-reoxygenation stress could be used as a biomarker for breast cancer metastatic potential.
Citation
Harper, M. G. (2017). Optical Imaging of Metabolic Adaptability as a Biomarker for Metastatic Potential in Breast Cancer Cells. Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/bmeguht/44
Included in
Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition Commons, Bioimaging and Biomedical Optics Commons, Investigative Techniques Commons, Oncology Commons