The Role of β-Catenin in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Sarah Morgan*, Yehenew Agazie, Taylor Saurborn, Roy Nicoletti, and Amy Boorsx

Cancer Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation Category: Health Sciences (Poster Presentation #111)

Student’s Major: Chemistry

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a form of breast cancer whose metastasis is not caused by progesterone or estrogen receptors and does not have increased production of the HER2 protein. The absence of these factors can make it difficult to develop targeted treatment. Fortunately, there are multiple proteins that have been found to be associated with TNBC. β-Catenin is one of these proteins, whose dysregulated expression in the presence of regulated Wnt expression can result in TNBC. To test for the importance of β-catenin in TNBC, its expression was silenced by two different shRNA (small hairpin RNA) constructs. Immunoblotting of samples from control shRNA and β-catenin cells showed efficient silencing. We have used cell proliferation in 2D, colony formation in soft agar, and tumorisphere formation in suspension cultures to determine the biological significance of β-catenin silencing. The results showed that β-catenin silencing was associated with reduced tumorisphere, colony formation, and cell proliferation. These results imply that β -catenin is important for the growth and transformation of TNBC cells, and its inhibition reduces the oncogenic properties of these cells. While β-Catenin silencing appears to suppress TNBC cell phenotypes, it is unclear whether it is the main cause of cancer formation in TNBC. Even so, this knowledge makes it possible to narrow research efforts on specific proteins and their involvement with one of the more aggressive forms of breast cancer.

Funding: NIH-NCI

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course