Genome-wide profiling of AP-1-regulated transcription provides insights into the invasiveness of triple-negative breast cancer.
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Zhao C, Qiao Y, Jonsson P, Wang J, Xu L, Rouhi P, Sinha I, Cao Y, Williams C, Dahlman-Wright K
Cancer Res. 74 (14) 3983-3994 [2014-07-15; online 2014-05-15]
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive clinical subtype accounting for up to 20% of all breast cancers, but its malignant determinants remain largely undefined. Here, we show that in TNBC the overexpression of Fra-1, a component of the transcription factor AP-1, offers prognostic potential. Fra-1 depletion or its heterodimeric partner c-Jun inhibits the proliferative and invasive phenotypes of TNBC cells in vitro. Similarly, RNAi-mediated attenuation of Fra-1 or c-Jun reduced cellular invasion in vivo in a zebrafish tumor xenograft model. Exploring the AP-1 cistrome and the AP-1-regulated transcriptome, we obtained insights into the transcriptional regulatory networks of AP-1 in TNBC cells. Among the direct targets identified for Fra-1/c-Jun involved in proliferation, adhesion, and cell-cell contact, we found that AP-1 repressed the expression of E-cadherin by transcriptional upregulation of ZEB2 to stimulate cell invasion. Overall, this work illuminates the pathways through which TNBC cells acquire invasive and proliferative properties.
PubMed 24830720
DOI 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-3396
Crossref 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-3396
pii: 0008-5472.CAN-13-3396