THU548 The Role Of Sirtuin 3 In Endocrine Therapy Resistant Breast Cancer Cells Response To Fulvestrant

Disclosure: K.A. de Oliveira: None. F.D. Andrade: None. M. Ozgul-Onal: None. A. Yadav: None. T. Onal: None. L. Jin: None. S. Sengupta: None. R. Clarke: None. Endocrine therapy can lead to cellular nutrient deprivation by reducing glucose and glutamine uptake and total cellular ATP production in breast cancer cells. The ability to bypass this metabolic stress is fundamental to how breast cancer cells regulate growth and acquire endocrine resistance. SIRT3, which can be activated by calorie restriction, modulates mitochondrial adaptation to low energy input. It has a key role in mitochondrial integrity and function, regulating cell survival, death, and metabolism, regulating the shift to amino-acid and fatty-acid catabolism. SIRT3 can maintain ROS levels at the appropriate levels for sustaining a proliferative phenotype, preventing apoptosis and promoting carcinogenesis. A role of SIRT3 in epigenetic regulation has also been reported. The ability of SIRTs to sense and respond to changes in energy, coupled with their intrinsic deacetylase/deacylase functions, could provide a mechanism for the cell to rewire signaling and maintain a newly acquired drug-resistant phenotype. Using antiestrogen sensitive (LCC1) and cross-resistant (LCC9) breast cancer cells, we confirmed higher expression of SIRT3 in LCC9, compared with LCC1 cells. Upregulation of SIRT3 expression within 24 hrs of Fulvestrant (ICI 1 µM) treatment (p=0.0176) in LCC1 was shown, whereas no effect was observed in LCC9 cells. Inhibition of SIRT3 activity, using the inhibitor LC0296 (15 µM), reduced growth rate in both LCC1 and SIRT3-silenced LCC9 cells under treatment with ICI (p<0.0001, p<0.001 respectively). Treatment with SIRTUIN 3 inhibitor and ICI induced caspase-independent cell death in LCC1 and SIRT3-silenced LCC9 cells compared to the untreated control and ICI only treated cells (p<0.001). The combination of SIRT3 inhibition (LC0296, 15 µM) and ICI treatment (0.5 µM) increased ROS production in LCC9-SIRT3 silenced cells in 24 hrs compared with the untreated control and ICI only treated cells (p<0.001). The combination of LC0296 and ICI induced a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP production, and a decrease in glycolytic capacity and glycolytic reserve in both LCC1 and SIRT3-silenced LCC9 cells, compared with the untreated control (p<0.001). Moreover, ICI significantly reduced ATP production in the mitochondria of the SIRT3-silenced LCC9 cells (p<0.001) but not in the non-silenced (control) LCC9 cells. Taken together, these results show that SIRT3 may have a key role in determining the response to fulvestrant response in ER+ breast cancer cells; a more detailed understanding of this role for SIRT3 is under investigation in our laboratory. Presentation: Thursday, June 15, 2023