Triple-negative breast cancer target for drug development identified
UCSF researcher Luika Timmerman, PhD, an investigator in the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that many cell lines obtained from triple-negative breast cancer are especially dependent on cystine, one of the 20 amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins that all cells need. Timmerman used an FDA-approved drug to inhibit activity of a transporter protein that ferries cystine into triple-negative breast cancer cells, and found that it significantly inhibited their growth in culture and when the cancer cells were transplanted into mice…