Characterization of Squamous Cell Carcinomas During High and Low Glucose Treatments

Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSqCC) is one of the many subtypes of lung cancer, the first leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Despite many years of research effort, not much has been accomplished as far as improving treatment and patient 5-year survival rates for lung cancer. Through metabolic analysis, much research has been published describing LSqCC and squamous carcinoma cells (SqCC), in general, that describes potentially targetable phenotypes. Research published out of our lab showed LSqCC is highly dependent on glucose for survival, a targetable observation. In addition, results implicated transcription factors p63 and SOX2 are important for glucose uptake. Here, I perform a brief study of SqCC regarding the effect of the TAp63 protein isoform on glucose addiction and their ability to adapt to low glucose environments. This study reveals the non-importance of TAp63 in glucose uptake. Moreover, I demonstrate the ability for multiple SqCC to adapt and survive in low glucose environments. In addition, I provide preliminary insight into differential protein expression of low glucose adapted cells based on proteins previously studied in our lab. In summary, this study provides further insight into the upregulated glycolytic flux seen in SqCCs.