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01-04-2020 | Breast Cancer | Preclinical Study

Inflammatory breast cancer cells are characterized by abrogated TGFβ1-dependent cell motility and SMAD3 activity

Authors: Charlotte Rypens, Melike Marsan, Christophe Van Berckelaer, Charlotte Billiet, Kirsten Melis, Sara Perez Lopez, Peter van Dam, Gayathri R. Devi, Pascal Finetti, Naoto T. Ueno, François Bertucci, Piet Dirix, Patrick Neven, Peter Vermeulen, Luc Dirix, Steven J. Van Laere

Published in: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment | Issue 2/2020

Abstract

Purpose

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is an aggressive form of breast cancer with elevated metastatic potential, characterized by tumor emboli in dermal and parenchymal lymph vessels. This study has investigated the hypothesis that TGFβ signaling is implicated in the molecular biology of IBC.

Methods

TGFβ1-induced cell motility and gene expression patterns were investigated in three IBC and three non-IBC (nIBC) cell lines. Tissue samples from IBC and nIBC patients were investigated for the expression of nuclear SMAD2, SMAD3, and SMAD4. SMAD protein levels were related to gene expression data.

Results

TGFβ1-induced cell motility was strongly abrogated in IBC cells (P = 0.003). Genes differentially expressed between IBC and nIBC cells post TGFβ1 exposure revealed attenuated expression of SMAD3 transcriptional regulators, but overexpression of MYC target genes in IBC. IBC patient samples demonstrated a near absence of SMAD3 and -4 expression in the primary tumor compared to nIBC patient samples (P < 0.001) and a further reduction of staining intensity in tumor emboli. Integration of gene and protein expression data revealed that a substantial fraction of the IBC signature genes correlated with SMAD3 and these genes are indicative of attenuated SMAD3 signaling in IBC.

Conclusion

We demonstrate attenuated SMAD3 transcriptional activity and SMAD protein expression in IBC, together with obliterated TGFβ1-induced IBC cell motility. The further reduction of nuclear SMAD expression levels in tumor emboli suggests that the activity of these transcription factors is involved in the metastatic dissemination of IBC cells, possibly by enabling collective invasion after partial EMT.

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Title: Inflammatory breast cancer cells are characterized by abrogated TGFβ1-dependent cell motility and SMAD3 activity
Authors: Charlotte Rypens
Melike Marsan
Christophe Van Berckelaer
Charlotte Billiet
Kirsten Melis
Sara Perez Lopez
Peter van Dam
Gayathri R. Devi
Pascal Finetti
Naoto T. Ueno
François Bertucci
Piet Dirix
Patrick Neven
Peter Vermeulen
Luc Dirix
Steven J. Van Laere
Publication date: 01-04-2020
Publisher: Springer US
Keywords: Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer
Published in: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment / Issue 2/2020
Print ISSN: 0167-6806
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7217
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-020-05571-z

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