SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: An iterative process of synthesis and biological testing was used to identify a novel thioesterase domain FASN inhibitor that has drug-like properties, is more cytotoxic to breast cancer cells than the widely used tetrahydro-4-methylene-2<i>S</i>-octyl-5-oxo-3<i>R</i>-furancarboxylic acid, and has negligible effects on the growth and proliferation of noncancerous mammary epithelial cells.
Activation of prolyl hydroxylase-2 for stabilization of mitochondrial stress along with simultaneous downregulation of HIF-1α/FASN in ER + breast cancer subtype.
Increasing evidences suggest that fatty acid synthase (FAS) plays an important role in the development of human breast cancer, for the expression of FAS is significantly higher in breast cancer cells than in normal cells.
Inhibition of FASN and ERα signalling during hyperglycaemia-induced matrix-specific EMT promotes breast cancer cell invasion via a caveolin-1-dependent mechanism.
The effects of LCA on breast cancer-derived MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were studied using MTT viability assays, Annexin-FITC and Akt phosphorylation assays to evaluate anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic properties, qRT-PCR and Western blotting assays to assess the expression of the bile acid receptor TGR5 and the estrogen receptor ERα, and genes and proteins involved in apoptosis (Bax, Bcl-2, p53) and lipogenesis (SREBP-1c, FASN, ACACA).
Expert opinion: With the recent demonstration of target engagement and early signs of clinical activity with the first orally available, selective, potent and reversible FASN inhibitor, we can expect Big pharma to revitalize their interest in lipogenic enzymes as well-credentialed targets for oncology drug development in breast cancer.
Although it was shown that FASN inhibition induced apoptosis by enhancing the cytotoxicity of certain drugs in breast cancer, its role in regulating the chemosensitivity of different types of breast cancer cells to CDDP-induced apoptosis is not established yet.
Among them, 1,3,6-Trihydroxy-7-methyl-9,10-anthracenedione (TMA, compound 6) showed strong inhibitory effect on the expression level on fatty acid synthase in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells.
The present study demonstrates that patuletin may be considered as a novel natural inhibitor of FASN, may induce anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in certain human breast cancer cells and may be useful for preventing and/or treating human breast cancer.
Collectively, our findings strongly suggest that the HER2-FASN lipogenic axis delineates a group of breast cancer patients that might benefit from treatment with therapeutic regimens containing FASN inhibitors.
We examined the roles of the major n-3 PUFA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), and the major n-6 PUFA, AA, in FASN expression in, and proliferation of, human breast cancer MCF-7 cells.
FASN blockade resulted in the increased expression and nuclear accumulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21<sup>WAF1/CIP1</sup> and p27<sup>Kip1</sup>, two critical mediators of the therapeutic effects of antiestrogen in breast cancer, while inactivating AKT, a key mediator of E<sub>2</sub>-promoted anchorage-independent growth.
As a result, curcumin induced human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell apoptosis with the half-inhibitory concentration value of 3.63 ± 0.26 µg/ml, and blocked FAS activity, expression and mRNA level in a dose-dependent manner.
The important function of FASN in the drug tolerance of breast cancer may be due to the following mechanisms: FASN downregulated TNFR-2 expression through lipid rafts to make the cells less sensitive to TNF-α, and simultaneously activated the Wnt-1/β-catenin signalling pathway.
G28UCM inhibits fatty acid synthase (FASN) activity and the growth of breast carcinoma xenografts in vivo, and is active in cells with acquired resistance to anti-HER2 drugs, which make it a candidate for further pre-clinical development.
THESE results suggest a novel positive feedback loop involving FASN/p-ERK1/2/5-LOX/LTB4/FASN contributes to the sustaining growth of breast cancer LM-MCF-7 cells.
Taken together, our results indicate that cacalol induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells and impairs mammary tumor growth in vivo by blocking the expression of the FAS gene through modulation of Akt-SREBP pathway, suggesting that cacalol has potential utility as a chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer.