Computational models applied to metabolomics data hints at the relevance of glutamine metabolism in breast cancer

BMC Cancer

Guillermo Prado-Vázquez¹  Angelo Gámez-Pozo¹  Andrea Zapater-Moros¹  Lucía Trilla-Fuertes¹  Mariana Díaz-Almirón²  Paloma Maín³  Jorge M. Arevalillo⁴  Hilario Navarro⁴  Pilar Zamora⁵  Enrique Espinosa⁵  Elena López-Camacho⁶  Juan Ángel Fresno Vara⁶  Rocío López-Vacas⁶ 

[1] Biomedica Molecular Medicine SL;Biostatistics Unit, La Paz University Hospital-IdiPAZ;Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Faculty of Mathematics, Complutense University of Madrid;Department of Statistics, Operational Research and Numerical Analysis, National University of Distance Education (UNED);Medical Oncology Service, La Paz University Hospital-IdiPAZ;Molecular Oncology & Pathology Lab, Institute of Medical and Molecular Genetics-INGEMM, La Paz University Hospital-IdiPAZ;

关键词: Breast cancer;    Metabolomics;    Glutamine metabolism;    Computational analyses;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12885-020-06764-x

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background Metabolomics has a great potential in the development of new biomarkers in cancer and it has experiment recent technical advances. Methods In this study, metabolomics and gene expression data from 67 localized (stage I to IIIB) breast cancer tumor samples were analyzed, using (1) probabilistic graphical models to define associations using quantitative data without other a priori information; and (2) Flux Balance Analysis and flux activities to characterize differences in metabolic pathways. Results On the one hand, both analyses highlighted the importance of glutamine in breast cancer. Moreover, cell experiments showed that treating breast cancer cells with drugs targeting glutamine metabolism significantly affects cell viability. On the other hand, these computational methods suggested some hypotheses and have demonstrated their utility in the analysis of metabolomics data and in associating metabolomics with patient’s clinical outcome. Conclusions Computational analyses applied to metabolomics data suggested that glutamine metabolism is a relevant process in breast cancer. Cell experiments confirmed this hypothesis. In addition, these computational analyses allow associating metabolomics data with patient prognosis.

【 授权许可】

Unknown