Paper BN+AS-WeA4
Differentiation of Breast Cancer Cell Lines with ToF-SIMS

Wednesday, October 31, 2012, 3:00 pm, Room 23

Cancer is a heterogeneous malignancy that manifests itself in a variety of morphological types and clinical outcomes. Tumor metabolism plays a large role in cancer onset and progression, and its causes and effects are under intense scrutiny. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) has been increasingly utilized for examining biological samples including biomaterials, cells, and tissues. The incorporation of cluster ion sources has allowed the detection of many high mass organic species that can be used to characterize biological surfaces. In combination with principal component analysis (PCA), we use ToF-SIMS to determine differences in the chemical makeup of eight different breast cancer cell lines. Four cell types are of the triple-negative (TN) phenotype, and four cell types are the luminal phenotype. Spectra have been acquired on an IONTOF TOF.SIMS V using Bi₃⁺ before and after C₆₀ etching. Using positively charged mass fragments, many of the cell lines can be separated from one another within a 95% confidence interval, with only two TN lines overlapping. Biological significance of the loadings peaks will be discussed with species such as diacylglycerols and cholesterol playing a role in the separation. This work is the foundation for future studies using human tumor biopsy samples that will help elucidate the link between fatty acid composition within a tumor and the potential drug resistance of that tumor.