Accumulation of CD38 in Hybrid Epithelial/Mesenchymal Cells Promotes Immune Remodeling and Metastasis in Breast Cancer.

ABSTRACT: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly metastatic subtype of breast cancer. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is a nonbinary process in the metastatic cascade that generates tumor cells with both epithelial and mesenchymal traits known as hybrid EM cells. Recent studies have elucidated the enhanced metastatic potential of cancers featuring the hybrid EM phenotype, highlighting the need to uncover molecular drivers and targetable vulnerabilities of the hybrid EM state. Here, we discovered that hybrid EM breast tumors are enriched in CD38, an immunosuppressive molecule associated with worse clinical outcomes in liquid malignancies. Altering CD38 expression in tumor cell impacted migratory, invasive, and metastatic capabilities of hybrid EM cells. Abrogation of CD38 expressio

SUBMITTER: Visal TH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11873730 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature