Abstract #1704

Choline Kinase-α Protein But Not Its Activity Is Necessary in Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation

Noriko Mori¹, Flonn Wildes¹, Kristine Glunde², Zaver M. Bhujwalla²

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

Increased levels of choline kinase (Chk)-α and phosphocholine (PC) are consistently observed in aggressive cancers. Understanding the roles of Chk and PC in cancer cells provide new insights into the malignant phenotype and can lead to the development of new treatment strategies. We previously showed that a Chk inhibitor which reduces PC had no effect on MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation, but downregulation of Chk with siRNA reduced proliferation. Here we have expanded upon these studies using SUM149 triple negative inflammatory breast cancer cells. These data confirm the importance of the enzyme, but not its activity, in breast cancer cell proliferation.