Investigate Potential Mechanism involved in AGTR1 Mediated Oncogenic Effects:A Pharmaceutical Intervention for Treatment of AGTR1 Positive Breast Cancer.

PI: Prof. Bushra Ateeq

The use of biomarkers, such as estrogen receptor (ER) and HER2, for breast cancer treatment selection are well established; yet even with these markers; there are deficiencies in the methodologies due to numerous subtypes within these groups that may affect their application. We have nominated AGTR1, the angiotensin receptor, a target of hypertension medications as a second ranked meta-outlier employing Meta-COPA analyses (Meta-Analysis and Cancer Outlier Profile Analysis) and it has also been validated as one of the most highly over-expressed genes in 10-20% of breast tumors across several independent patient cohorts. We are investigating the mechanism of AGTR1 over-expression and performing functional characterization to provide a strong rationale for the use of AGTR1 antagonists or small molecule inhibitors in AGTR1-positive subset of breast cancer patients. Moreover, the cell signaling pathways linked to AGTR1-Ang II dependent cell invasion and metastases in AGTR1-positive subset of breast cancer patients are also being explored.