Cholesteryl Ester Promotes Mammary Tumor Growth in MMTV-PyMT Mice and Activates Akt-mTOR Pathway in Tumor Cells.

Abstract

The association between intratumoral cholesteryl ester (CE) and tumor progression has been reported previously. The objective of our study was to investigate a causal effect of CE on mammary tumor progression. Using MMTV-PyMT (MMTV-polyoma virus middle T) transgenic mice and breast tumor cell MCF-7, we show that both exogenous and endogenous CE can increase mammary tumor growth, that CE upregulates the AKT/mTOR pathway, and that CE synthesis blockade suppresses this signaling pathway. Our data suggest that SOAT1, a sterol O-acyltransferase, may be a potential target for the treatment of breast cancer.

• Authors: Lengyun Wei, Xuyang Lu, Shengmei Weng, Shenglong Zhu, Yongquan Chen
• Journal: Biomolecules (Biomolecules) Vol. 11 Issue 6 (06 08 2021) ISSN: 2218-273X [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 34201030 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Cholesterol Esters
• Sterol O-Acyltransferase
• sterol O-acyltransferase 1
• mTOR protein, mouse
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
• TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases

Topics

• Animals
• Cholesterol Esters (genetics, metabolism)
• Female
• Humans
• MCF-7 Cells
• Mammary Neoplasms, Animal (drug therapy, genetics, metabolism, pathology)
• Mice
• Mice, Transgenic
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt (genetics, metabolism)
• Signal Transduction
• Sterol O-Acyltransferase (genetics, metabolism)
• TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases (genetics, metabolism)