Abstract
Proline, glutamic acid, leucine-rich protein 1 (PELP1) is overexpressed in approximately 80% of invasive breast tumors. PELP1 dynamically shuttles between the nucleus and cytoplasm, but is primarily nuclear in normal breast tissue. However, altered localization of PELP1 to the cytoplasm is an oncogenic event that promotes breast cancer initiation and progression. Herein, interacting partners unique to cytoplasmic PELP1 and the mechanisms by which these interactions promote oncogenic PELP1 signaling were sought. AIB1 (amplified in breast cancer 1; also known as SRC-3 or NCOA3) was identified as a novel binding partner of cytoplasmic PELP1 in both estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) and ER-negative cell lines. Cytoplasmic PELP1 expression elevated basal phosphorylation levels (i.e., activation) of AIB1 at Thr24, enhanced ALDH+ tumorsphere formation, and upregulated specific target genes independently of hormone stimulation. Direct manipulation of AIB1 levels using shRNA abrogated cytoplasmic PELP1-induced tumorsphere formation and downregulated cytoplasmic PELP1-specific target genes. SI-2, an AIB1 inhibitor, limited the PELP1/AIB1 interaction and decreased cytoplasmic PELP1-induced tumorsphere formation. Similar results were observed in a murine-derived MMTV-AIB1 tumor cell line. Furthermore, in vivo syngeneic tumor studies revealed that PELP1 knockdown resulted in increased survival of tumor-bearing mice as compared with mice injected with control cells. Implications: These data demonstrate that cytoplasmic PELP1/ AIB1-containing complexes function to promote advanced cancer phenotypes, including outgrowth of stem-like cells, associated with estrogen-independent breast cancer progression.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 707-719 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Molecular Cancer Research |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the NIH grants R01 CA159712 (to C.A. Lange), K07 CA131501 (to J.H. Ostrander), F32 CA210340 (to T.H. Truong), and T32 HL007741 (to T.H. Truong), ACS Institutional Research Grant #124166-IRG-58-001-52-IRG5 (to J.H. Ostrander), Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, SP3 Award (to C.A. Lange, J.H. Ostrander, K.L. Schwertfeger), and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health Award UL1TR000114 (to J.H. Ostrander).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Association for Cancer Research.