Optical Redox Imaging Differentiates Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Subtypes

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Oncology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype with limited therapeutic options.
• TNBC heterogeneity extends to gene expression, metabolism, and invasiveness.
• Metabolically targeted therapies are a growing focus for TNBC treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To metabolically characterize diverse TNBC cell lines using optical redox imaging (ORI).
• To assess the metabolic plasticity of TNBC subtypes in response to perturbations.
• To establish ORI as a sensitive tool for TNBC metabolic profiling.

Main Methods:

• Utilized optical redox imaging (ORI) to measure cellular redox status, including NADH, FAD, and the FAD/(NADH+FAD) ratio.
• Metabolically perturbed TNBC cell lines using mitochondrial inhibitors and an uncoupler.
• Performed ORI before and after metabolic perturbations to evaluate cellular responses.

Main Results:

• Significant variations in baseline redox status (NADH, FAD, redox ratio) were observed across different TNBC cell lines.
• TNBC cell lines displayed similar response patterns to metabolic perturbations.
• Distinct differences in redox plasticity were identified among TNBC subtypes.

Conclusions:

• TNBC subtypes possess unique metabolic characteristics.
• ORI is a sensitive technique capable of differentiating metabolic profiles and plasticity in TNBC.
• Metabolic profiling via ORI can inform the development of targeted therapies for TNBC.