Metabolic reprogramming plays an essential role in supporting the survival and proliferation of
cancer cells.
Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) directs
serine to the metabolism of one-
carbon unit and the synthesis of thymidilate as a key factor in this metabolic shift. Although the mitochondrial
isoform of SHMT (SHMT2) has been proven to be a crucial factor in the
serine/
glycine metabolism in several
cancer cell types, the expression pattern of SHMT2 and the correlation of expression level of SHMT2 and other clinicopathological parameters in clinical
breast cancer remain to be explored. In this research, 76
breast cancer patients who underwent
modified radical mastectomy were enrolled for immunohistochemical analysis of the expression level of SHMT2 in their cancerous breast tissues for comparison with that in matching, distant noncancerous tissues. The results showed that SHMT2 was not expressed in the distant noncancerous cells. In contrast, SHMT2
protein could be stained in all
breast cancer samples at varying degrees. Higher level of SHMT2 was expressed in grade III
breast cancer cells than that those in grade I-II (P<0.05). In conclusion, SHMT2 was highly expressed in
breast cancer cells, and the expression level of SHMT2 was positively correlated with
breast cancer grade, suggesting that SHMT2 could be a target for anticancer
therapies.