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Elf5 inhibits epithelial mesenchymal transition in development and cancer metastasis through transcriptional repression of Snail2

ABSTRACT: Elf5 (or ESE-2) is an ETS transcription factor that is abundantly expressed in the mammary epithelium, where it plays a critical role in dictating cell fate and lineage choices. These changes are in part mediated by alterations in the expression and activity of critical components of the Jak/Stat pathway. While the biological function of Elf5 in mammary gland development has been well characterized, its role in breast cancer remains to be elucidated. Here we show that loss of Elf5 leads to features associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the mouse mammary gland during pregnancy and lactation. These cellular changes in Elf5-null mammary epithelia are also reflected at the molecular level by the global enrichment of EMT-related gene signatures. ELF5 is expressed in higher level in weakly metastatic breast cancer cells that retained epithelial features compared to highly metastatic cells with mesenchymal features. ELF5 knockdown in T47D breast cancer cells resulted in EMT and increased migration. Conversely, ectopic expression of Elf5 revert mesenchymal-like MDA-MB-231 cells and its lung-tropic variant LM2 to an epithelial phenotype, with reduced migration, invasion and lung metastatic abilities. Finally, we showed that Elf5 binds directly to the promoter of the EMT transcriptional factor Snail2 (Slug) and repress its expression. Taken together, these data established a novel function for Elf5 in inhibiting EMT in normal mammary epithelium and in breast cancer through direct targeting of Snail2. This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE32143: LM2 cell: infected with lentivirus to stably express Elf5 vs GFP GSE32144: MDA-MB-231 cell: infected with lentivirus to stably express mut-Elf5 vs WT-Elf5

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Wei Yong

PROVIDER: S-ECPF-GEOD-32150 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:It was already in the 18th century when the French surgeon LeDran first noted that breast cancer patients with spread of tumor cells to their axillary lymph nodes had a drastically worse prognosis than patients without spread (LeDran et al., ). Since then, metastatic spread of cancer cells to regional lymph nodes has been established as the most important prognostic factor in many types of cancer (Carter et al., ; Elston and Ellis, ). However, despite its clinical importance, lymph metastasis remains an underexplored area of tumor biology. Fundamental questions, such as when, how, and perhaps most importantly, why tumor cells disseminate through the lymphatic system, remain largely unanswered. Accordingly, no treatment strategies exist that specifically target lymph metastasis. The identification of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) as a mechanism, which allows cancer cells to dedifferentiate and acquire enhanced migratory and invasive properties, has been a game changer in cancer research. Conceptually, EMT provides an explanation for why epithelial cancers with poor differentiation status are generally more aggressive and prone to metastasize than more differentiated cancers. Inflammatory cytokines, such as TGF-β, which are produced and secreted by tumor-infiltrating immune cells, are potent inducers of EMT. Thus, reactivation of EMT also links cancer-related inflammation to invasive and metastatic disease. Recently, we found that breast cancer cells undergoing TGF-β-induced EMT acquire properties of immune cells allowing them to disseminate in a targeted fashion through the lymphatic system similar to activated dendritic cells during inflammation. Here, we review our current understanding of the mechanisms by which cancer cells spread through the lymphatic system and the links to inflammation and the immune system. We also emphasize how imaging techniques have the potential to further expand our knowledge of the mechanisms of lymph metastasis, and how lymph nodes serve as an interface between cancer and the immune system.