Award Date

1-1-2007

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Committee Member

Stephen W. Carper

Number of Pages

69

Abstract

Boric acid (BA), an essential plant micronutrient, has recently been discovered as a chemo-preventive agent in prostate cancer; however, its mechanism of action remains unknown. Our interest is to determine if BA has a preventative role in breast cancer and elucidate its possible mechanism. Integrins are transmembrane proteins responsible for cell growth, survival and adhesion. We hypothesize that BA interacts with integrins to mediate its response. To test this hypothesis we used BA and phenylboronic acid (PBA), a bulkier analog of BA, on breast ductal carcinoma, ZR-75-1, and breast andenocarcinoma, MCF-7; BA and PBA treatments were tested through proliferation, cytotoxicity and cell cycle analysis experiments. These preliminary results show that BA and PBA effectively inhibit growth in both breast cancer cell lines through dose-dependent cell cycle block and apoptosis. Adhesion and integrin activity assays did not definitively identify which integrins are affected by BA and PBA treatments.

Keywords

Acids; Apoptosis; Boric; Breast; Cancer; Cell; Cells; Growth; Induces; Inhibits

Controlled Subject

Biochemistry; Oncology; Cellular biology

File Format

pdf

File Size

1679.36 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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