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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Imad Malki
To study the possible relationship between the tumourigencity-promoting activity of cutaneous fatty acid binding protein (C-FABP) and its fatty acid-binding capability, mutations were generated on the fatty acid-binding motif of the C-FABP cDNA. The wild type and mutated C-FABP cDNAs were transfected respectively into the LNCaP prostate cancer cells, which do not express C-FABP prior to the transfection, to generate a clone expressing a wild type C-FABP which can bind to fatty acids; and two clones expressing mutated C-FABPs which are less capable of binding to fatty acids. The increased wild type C-FABP expression in LNCaP cells significantly increased cell proliferation, invasiveness, and tumourigencity in vitro, whereas, the increased expression of both mutant forms of C-FABP did not significantly change these characteristics. When inoculated in nude mouse, 7 out of 8 mice produced tumours in the wild type group, with an average tumour weight of 342.9±144.8mg. In single mutant group, 4 out of 8 mice produced tumours with an average tumour weight of 217.5±69.5mg. Whereas in the double mutant and control group, only 3 out of 8 mice produced tumours with average sizes of 59.33±19.0mg and 46.7±15.3mg, respectively. The increased expression of wild type C-FABP, which is able to bind fatty acids, produced 4 more tumours and significantly increased the tumour size by 7.3- fold, comparing with the control. In contrast, increased expression of the mutant C-FABP, which only has a similar ability of binding fatty acids to the control cells, produced the same number of tumours with similar sizes with those produced by the control cells. Our results suggest that the biological ability of C-FABP to promote tumourigencity of the prostate cancer cells depends on its ability of binding to fatty acids. Thus C-FABP may facilitate cancer development through transporting fatty acids into cells.
Author(s): Malki MI, Bao ZZ, Foster CS, Ke Y
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: Cell Death in Cancer
Year of Conference: 2012
Date deposited: 23/04/2013
URL: http://www.eacr.org/celldeathincancer2012
