Machine learning-assisted elucidation of CD81-CD44 interactions in promoting cancer stemness and extracellular vesicle integrity.

ABSTRACT: Tumor-initiating cells with reprogramming plasticity or stem-progenitor cell properties (stemness) are thought to be essential for cancer development and metastatic regeneration in many cancers; however, elucidation of the underlying molecular network and pathways remains demanding. Combining machine learning and experimental investigation, here we report CD81, a tetraspanin transmembrane protein known to be enriched in extracellular vesicles (EVs), as a newly identified driver of breast cancer stemness and metastasis. Using protein structure modeling and interface prediction-guided mutagenesis, we demonstrate that membrane CD81 interacts with CD44 through their extracellular regions in promoting tumor cell cluster formation and lung metastasis of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in hu

SUBMITTER: Ramos EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9581534 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature