Search for biomarkers of response to MitoQ in human breast cancer cell lines

For this projected we aimed to identifybiomarkers of response to a mitochondrial ROS inhibitor, MitoQ and its role in breast tumor metastasis. To do so, we performed an unbiased screening using RNAsequing. With this technique, we identified, in two human breast cancer metastatic cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and SKBR3), 13 commonly significant modulated genes that are involved in metabolic switches. Five of these genes were confirmed by RT-qPCR, and four were proved at protein level. In vivo experiments using an orthotopic model of the highly metastatic cell line MDA-MB-231 further demonstrated that modulation of some of the target genes can be observed in mice without tumor recurrence and without lung micrometastasis. Together, our results identified members of signaling pathways induced by mtROS in human metastatic breast cancer cells, and demonstrated that targeting mtROS in metastatic breast cancer can impair their invasive phenotype. Examination of gene expression modulations upon MitoQ treatment in 2 breast cancer cell lines