Importance of the copper transporter 1 receptor in the uptake of the copper complex [Cu(sdmx)2(phen)] into triple negative breast tumor cells

• Grant number: 18/17170-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: October 22, 2018
• End date: April 21, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Márcia Regina Cominetti
• Grantee: Ramon Handerson Gomes Teles
• Supervisor: Marxa Leao Figueiredo
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Purdue University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/19504-0 - Evaluation of the activity of ruthenium complexes encapsulated in triple-negative breast tumor metastases, BP.MS

Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of deaths worldwide, with breast cancer being the most frequent in women. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype is the most aggressive type of breast cancer due to the lack of specific therapeutic targets, thus having limited treatment options, low survival prognosis and high recurrence rates. Research groups focusing on the discovery of new drugs to treat cancer are growing. Their focus is related to finding compounds that are more effective and improving the way they are administered, preferentially decreasing side effects and therapeutic resistance. Thus, compounds containing metals have been proposed as antitumor agents and have shown a new perspective for cancer treatment due to their promising therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, this project aims to analyze the mechanisms of uptake of a metallodrug based on copper into TNBC cells in vitro. The copper receptor hCTR1 will be overexpressed through cell transfections with appropriate plasmids and the effects of the copper compound will be tested and compared to non-transfected cells. The results obtained here will help to establish new potential therapeutic targets for TNBC.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GOMES TELES, RAMON HANDERSON; GRAMINHA, ANGELICA ELLEN; RIVERA-CRUZ, COSETTE M.; NAKAHATA, DOUGLAS HIDEKI; BARBOZA FORMIGA, ANDRE LUIZ; CORBI, PEDRO PAULO; FIGUEIREDO, MARXA LEAO; COMINETTI, MARCIA REGINA. Copper transporter 1 affinity as a delivery strategy to improve the cytotoxic profile of rationally designed copper(II) complexes for cancer treatment. TOXICOLOGY IN VITRO, v. 67, SEP 2020. (18/12062-4, 15/20882-3, 18/17170-0, 13/07600-3, 17/19504-0)