A Unique Morphological Phenotype in Chemoresistant Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Reveals Metabolic Reprogramming and PLIN4 Expression as a Molecular Vulnerability

Mol Cancer Res. 2019 Dec;17(12):2492-2507. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-19-0264. Epub 2019 Sep 19.

Abstract

The major obstacle in successfully treating triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy, the mainstay of treatment in this disease. Previous preclinical models of chemoresistance in TNBC have suffered from a lack of clinical relevance. Using a single high dose chemotherapy treatment, we developed a novel MDA-MB-436 cell-based model of chemoresistance characterized by a unique and complex morphologic phenotype, which consists of polyploid giant cancer cells giving rise to neuron-like mononuclear daughter cells filled with smaller but functional mitochondria and numerous lipid droplets. This resistant phenotype is associated with metabolic reprogramming with a shift to a greater dependence on fatty acids and oxidative phosphorylation. We validated both the molecular and histologic features of this model in a clinical cohort of primary chemoresistant TNBCs and identified several metabolic vulnerabilities including a dependence on PLIN4, a perilipin coating the observed lipid droplets, expressed both in the TNBC-resistant cells and clinical chemoresistant tumors treated with neoadjuvant doxorubicin-based chemotherapy. These findings thus reveal a novel mechanism of chemotherapy resistance that has therapeutic implications in the treatment of drug-resistant cancer. IMPLICATIONS: These findings underlie the importance of a novel morphologic-metabolic phenotype associated with chemotherapy resistance in TNBC, and bring to light novel therapeutic targets resulting from vulnerabilities in this phenotype, including the expression of PLIN4 essential for stabilizing lipid droplets in resistant cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cellular Reprogramming / drug effects*
  • Cellular Reprogramming / genetics
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacology
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / drug effects*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Humans
  • Lipid Droplets / drug effects
  • Metabolic Networks and Pathways / drug effects
  • Perilipin-4 / genetics*
  • Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / genetics
  • Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / pathology

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • PLIN4 protein, human
  • Perilipin-4
  • Doxorubicin