Cycloxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a pathological marker of high clinical relevance. COX-2 initiates the biosynthesis of inflammatory and immunosuppressive prostanoids to promote a hostile tumor microenvironment. Solid tumors rely on vital organs such as the spleen to survive, proliferate and evade immune recognition. We modulated breast cancer COX-2 expression to investigate the metabolic effects in the spleen of immunocompetent and immunocompromised mice. High resolution 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was performed to identify changes in spleen metabolites. We observed distinct, COX-2-dependent increases in various metabolites in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice compared to immunocompetent BALB/c mice.
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