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Abstract #0655

Silencing GDPD5, a Novel Anticancer Target, Increases Glycerophosphocholine in Human Breast Cancer Cells

Mailin Dpkens1,2, Tiffany R. Blackwell1, Farhad Vesuna1, Venu Raman1, Balaji Krishnamachary1, Zaver M. Bhujwalla1, Dieter Leibfritz2, Kristine Glunde1

1JHU ICMIC Program, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 2Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany


Altered choline phospholipid metabolism in breast cancers provides multiple targets for anticancer therapy. In addition to increasing total choline levels, malignant transformation of breast cancer cells results in a switch from high glycerophosphocholine (GPC) and low phosphocholine (PC) to low GPC and high PC. The glycerophosphocholine phosphodiesterase (GPC-PDE) genes responsible for the low GPC levels in breast cancer cells have not been identified. Here we demonstrate that glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase domain containing 5 (GDPD5), a gene encoding a GPC-PDE, is at least partially responsible for the low GPC levels in breast cancer cells, and may be a useful therapeutic target.