MELK as a Mediator of Stemness and Metastasis in Aggressive Subtypes of Breast Cancer.

ABSTRACT: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the breast cancer subtype with the poorest prognosis and lacks actionable molecular targets for treatment. Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is highly expressed in TNBC and has been implicated in poor clinical outcomes, though its mechanistic role in the aggressive biology of TNBC is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate a role of MELK in TNBC progression and metastasis. Analysis of publicly available datasets revealed that high MELK expression correlates with worse overall survival, recurrence-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival, and MELK is co-expressed with metastasis-related genes. Functional studies demonstrated that MELK inhibition, using genomic or pharmacologic inhibition, reduces mammosphere form

SUBMITTER: McBean B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11900306 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature