Glutamine transporter SLC38A3 promotes breast cancer metastasis via Gsk3β/β-catenin/EMT pathway.

ABSTRACT: Breast cancer is the leading cancer-related cause of death in women. Here we show that solute carrier family 38-member 3 (SLC38A3) is overexpressed in breast cancer, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells and tissues. Our study reveals that SLC38A3 regulates cellular glutamine, glutamate, asparagine, aspartate, alanine, and glutathione (GSH) levels in breast cancer cells. Our data demonstrate that SLC38A3 enhances cell viability, cell migration and invasion in vitro, and promotes tumor growth and metastasis in vivo, while reducing apoptosis and oxidative stress. Mechanistically, we show that SLC38A3 suppresses the activity of glycogen synthase kinase 3-β (Gsk3β), a negative regulator of β-catenin, and increases protein levels of β-catenin, leading to the upregulation of

SUBMITTER: Tan Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12832041 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature