RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Maintenance of epithelial traits and resistance to mesenchymal reprogramming promote proliferation in metastatic breast cancer
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.03.19.998823
DO 10.1101/2020.03.19.998823
A1 Laura Eichelberger
A1 Massimo Saini
A1 Helena Domínguez Moreno
A1 Corinna Klein
A1 Johanna M. Bartsch
A1 Mattia Falcone
A1 Manuel Reitberger
A1 Elisa Espinet
A1 Vanessa Vogel
A1 Elisabeth Graf
A1 Thomas Schwarzmayr
A1 Tim-Matthias Strom
A1 Mareike Lehmann
A1 Melanie Königshoff
A1 Nicole Pfarr
A1 Roberto Würth
A1 Elisa Donato
A1 Simon Haas
A1 Saskia Spaich
A1 Marc Sütterlin
A1 Andreas Schneeweiss
A1 Wilko Weichert
A1 Gunnar Schotta
A1 Andreas Trumpp
A1 Martin R. Sprick
A1 Christina H. Scheel
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/04/02/2020.03.19.998823.abstract
AB Despite important advances in the treatment of breast cancer, the 5-year survival rate for patients with distant metastasis remains less than 30%. Metastasis is a complex, multi-step process beginning with local invasion and ending with the outgrowth of systemically disseminated cells into actively proliferating metastases that ultimately cause the destruction of vital organs. It is this last step that limits patient survival and, at the same time, remains the least understood mechanistically. Here, we focus on understanding determinants of metastatic outgrowth using metastatic effusion biopsies from stage IV breast cancer patients. By modelling metastatic outgrowth through xenograft transplantation, we show that tumour initiation potential of patient-derived metastatic breast cancer cells across breast cancer subtypes is strongly linked to high levels of EPCAM expression. Breast cancer cells with high EPCAM levels are highly plastic and, upon induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), readily adopt mesenchymal traits while maintaining epithelial identity. In contrast, low EPCAM levels are caused by the irreversible reprogramming to a mesenchymal state with concomitant suppression of metastatic outgrowth. The ability of breast cancer cells to retain epithelial traits is tied to a global epigenetic program that limits the actions of EMT-transcription factor ZEB1, a suppressor of epithelial genes. Our results provide direct evidence that maintenance of epithelial identity is required for metastatic outgrowth while concomitant expression of mesenchymal markers enables plasticity. In contrast, loss of epithelial traits is characteristic of an irreversible mesenchymal reprogramming associated to a deficiency for metastatic outgrowth. Collectively, our data provide a framework for the intricate intercalation of mesenchymal and epithelial traits in metastatic growth.