The antiviral drug efavirenz in breast cancer stem cell therapy

Pey Tsyr Chiou, Stephen Ohms, Philip G. Board, Jane E. Dahlstrom, Danny Rangasamy, Marco G. Casarotto*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although many breast cancer therapies show initial success in the treatment of the primary tumour, they often fail to eliminate a sub-population of cells known as cancer stem cells (CSCs). These cells are recognised for their self-renewal properties and for their capacity for differentiation often leading to chemo/radio-resistance. The antiviral drug Efavirenz has been shown to be effective in eliminating triple-negative breast cancer cells, and here we examine its effect on breast CSCs. The effects of Efavirenz on CSCs for several breast cancer cell lines were investigated by examining cellular changes upon drug treatment, including CSC numbers, morphology, RNA/microRNA expression and levels of epithelial/mesenchymal CSC subtypes. Efavirenz treatment resulted in a decrease in the size and number of tumorspheres and a reduction in epithelial-type CSC levels, but an increase in mesenchymal-type CSCs. Efavirenz caused upregulation of several CSC-related genes as well as miR-21, a CSC marker and miR-182, a CSC suppressor gene. We conclude that Efavirenz alters the phenotype and expression of key genes in breast CSCs, which has important potential therapeutic implications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number6232
JournalCancers
Volume13
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2021

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