The transcription factors Snail and Slug activate the TGF-B signaling pathway in breast cancer
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
SUBMITTER: Phadke Dhiral
PROVIDER: S-ECPF-GEOD-29672 | biostudies-other |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Similar Datasets
Project description:Gene expression profiling to determine transcriptome changes following Snail or Slug expression in MCF-7 breast cancer cells Samples were isolated in three biological replicates for microarray analysis.
2011-10-21 | GSE29672 | GEO
Project description:Gene expression profiling to determine transcriptome changes following Snail or Slug expression in MCF-7 breast cancer cells Samples were isolated in three biological replicates for microarray analysis. Four MCF-7 breast cancer cell subsets: MCF-7(untreated), MCF-7 (with Control adenovirus), MCF-7 (with Snail adenovirus) and MCF-7 (with Slug adenovirus). RNA was purified on Day 0 for untreated, and on days 1,2 and 4 for the remaining three subsets for gene expression profiling on microarray.
2011-10-20 | E-GEOD-29672 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The transcriptional repressors Snail and Slug are situated at the core of several signaling pathways proposed to mediate epithelial to mesenchymal transition or EMT, which has been implicated in tumor metastasis. EMT involves an alteration from an organized, epithelial cell structure to a mesenchymal, invasive and migratory phenotype. In order to obtain a global view of the impact of Snail and Slug expression, we performed a microarray experiment using the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line, which does not express detectable levels of Snail or Slug. MCF-7 cells were infected with Snail, Slug or control adenovirus, and RNA samples isolated at various time points were analyzed across all transcripts. Our analyses indicated that Snail and Slug regulate many genes in common, but also have distinct sets of gene targets. Gene set enrichment analyses indicated that Snail and Slug directed the transcriptome of MCF-7 cells from a luminal towards a more complex pattern that includes many features of the claudin-low breast cancer signature. Of particular interest, genes involved in the TGF-beta signaling pathway are upregulated, while genes responsible for a differentiated morphology are downregulated following Snail or Slug expression. Further we noticed increased histone acetylation at the promoter region of the transforming growth factor beta-receptor II (TGFBR2) gene following Snail or Slug expression. Inhibition of the TGF-beta signaling pathway using selective small-molecule inhibitors following Snail or Slug addition resulted in decreased cell migration with no impact on the repression of cell junction molecules by Snail and Slug. We propose that there are two regulatory modules embedded within EMT: one that involves repression of cell junction molecules, and the other involving cell migration via TGF-beta and/or other pathways.
| S-EPMC3197668 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a molecular process through which an epithelial cell undergoes transdifferentiation into a mesenchymal phenotype. The role of EMT in embryogenesis is well-characterized and increasing evidence suggests that elements of the transition may be important in other processes, including metastasis and drug resistance in various different cancers.Agilent 4 × 44 K whole human genome arrays and selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry were used to investigate mRNA and protein expression in A2780 cisplatin sensitive and resistant cell lines. Invasion and migration were assessed using Boyden chamber assays. Gene knockdown of snail and slug was done using targeted siRNA. Clinical relevance of the EMT pathway was assessed in a cohort of primary ovarian tumours using data from Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133 plus 2.0 arrays.Morphological and phenotypic hallmarks of EMT were identified in the chemoresistant cells. Subsequent gene expression profiling revealed upregulation of EMT-related transcription factors including snail, slug, twist2 and zeb2. Proteomic analysis demonstrated up regulation of Snail and Slug as well as the mesenchymal marker Vimentin, and down regulation of E-cadherin, an epithelial marker. By reducing expression of snail and slug, the mesenchymal phenotype was largely reversed and cells were resensitized to cisplatin. Finally, gene expression data from primary tumours mirrored the finding that an EMT-like pathway is activated in resistant tumours relative to sensitive tumours, suggesting that the involvement of this transition may not be limited to in vitro drug effects.This work strongly suggests that genes associated with EMT may play a significant role in cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer, therefore potentially leading to the development of predictive biomarkers of drug response or novel therapeutic strategies for overcoming drug resistance.
| S-EPMC3342883 | biostudies-other
Project description:BACKGROUND:TGF-? acts as a suppressor of primary tumor initiation but has been implicated as a promoter of the later malignant stages. Here associations with risk of invasive breast cancer are assessed for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) tagging 17 genes in the canonical TGF-? ALK5/SMADs 2&3 and ALK1/SMADs 1&5 signaling pathways: LTBP1, LTBP2, LTBP4, TGFB1, TGFB2, TGFB3, TGFBR1(ALK5), ALK1, TGFBR2, Endoglin, SMAD1, SMAD2, SMAD3, SMAD4, SMAD5, SMAD6, and SMAD7 [Approved Human Gene Nomenclature Committee gene names: ACVRL1 (for ALK1) and ENG (for Endoglin)]. METHODS:Three-hundred-fifty-four tag SNPs (minor allele frequency > 0.05) were selected for genotyping in a staged study design using 6,703 cases and 6,840 controls from the Studies of Epidemiology and Risk Factors in Cancer Heredity (SEARCH) study. Significant associations were meta-analyzed with data from the NCI Polish Breast Cancer Study (PBCS; 1,966 cases and 2,347 controls) and published data from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). RESULTS:Associations of three SNPs, tagging TGFB1 (rs1982073), TGFBR1 (rs10512263), and TGFBR2 (rs4522809), were detected in SEARCH; however, associations became weaker in meta-analyses including data from PBCS and BCAC. Tumor subtype analyses indicated that the TGFB1 rs1982073 association may be confined to increased risk of developing progesterone receptor negative (PR(-)) tumors [1.18 (95% CI: 1.09-1.28), 4.1 × 10(-5) (P value for heterogeneity of ORs by PR status = 2.3 × 10(-4))]. There was no evidence for breast cancer risk associations with SNPs in the endothelial-specific pathway utilizing ALK1/SMADs 1&5 that promotes angiogenesis. CONCLUSION:Common variation in the TGF-? ALK5/SMADs 2&3 signaling pathway, which initiates signaling at the cell surface to inhibit cell proliferation, might be related to risk of specific tumor subtypes. IMPACT:The subtype specific associations require very large studies to be confirmed.
| S-EPMC3112459 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Slug (SNAI2) and Snail (SNAI1) are master regulatory transcription factors for organogenesis and wound healing, and they are involved in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer cells. We found that the activity of phospholipase D isoform 2 (PLD2) is highly increased in cancers with larger size and poor prognosis (MDA-MB-231 versus MCF-7 cells), so we determined if Snail or Slug were responsible for PLD2 gene transcription regulation. Unexpectedly, we found that PLD2 expression was positively regulated by Slug but negatively regulated by Snail. The differential effects are amplified in breast cancer cells over normal cells and with MDA-MB-231 more robustly than MCF-7. Slug putatively binds to the PLD2 promoter and transactivates it, which is negated when Slug and Snail compete with each other. Meanwhile, PLD2 has a negative effect on Snail expression and a positive effect on Slug, thus closing a feedback loop between the lipase and the transcription factors. Further, PA, the product of PLD2 enzymatic reaction, has profound effects on its own and it further regulates the transcription factors. Thus, we show for the first time that the overexpressed PLD2 in human breast tumors is regulated by Slug and Snail transcription factors. The newly uncovered feedback loops in highly invasive cancer cells have important implications in the process of EMT.
| S-EPMC4870114 | biostudies-other
Project description:Claudin-1 is an integral membrane protein component of tight junctions. The Snail family of transcription factors are repressors that play a central role in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, a process that occurs during cancer progression. Snail and Slug members are direct repressors of E-cadherin and act by binding to the specific E-boxes of its proximal promoter. In the present study, we demonstrate that overexpression of Slug or Snail causes a decrease in transepithelial electrical resistance. Overexpression of Slug and Snail in MDCK (Madin-Darby canine kidney) cells down-regulated Claudin-1 at protein and mRNA levels. In addition, Snail and Slug are able to effectively repress human Claudin-1-driven reporter gene constructs containing the wild-type promoter sequence, but not those with mutations in two proximal E-box elements. We also demonstrate by band-shift assay that Snail and Slug bind to the E-box motifs present in the human Claudin-1 promoter. Moreover, an inverse correlation in the levels of Claudin-1 and Slug transcripts were observed in breast cancer cell lines. E-box elements in the Claudin-1 promoter were found to play a critical negative regulatory role in breast cancer cell lines that expressed low levels of Claudin-1 transcript. Significantly, in invasive human breast tumours, high levels of Snail and Slug correlated with low levels of Claudin-1 expression. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that Claudin-1 is a direct downstream target gene of Snail family factors in epithelial cells.
| S-EPMC1408675 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) is the main cytokine responsible for the induction of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of breast cancer cells, which is a hallmark of tumor transformation to the metastatic phenotype. Recently, research demonstrated that the chemokine CCL2 gene expression level directly correlates with the TGF-β activity in breast cancer patients. CCL2 attracts tumor-associated macrophages and is, therefore, considered as an important inductor of breast cancer progression; however, the precise mechanisms underlying its regulation by TGF-β are unknown. Here, we studied the behavior of the CCL2 gene in MDA-MB-231 and HCC1937 breast cancer cells representing mesenchymal-like phenotype activated by TGF-β. Using bioinformatics, deletion screening and point mutagenesis, we identified binding sites in the CCL2 promoter and candidate transcription factors responsible for its regulation by TGF-β. Among these factors, only the knock-down of EGR1 and RXRA made CCL2 promoter activity independent of TGF-β. These factors also demonstrated binding to the CCL2 promoter in a TGF-β-dependent manner in a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay, and point mutations in the EGR1 and RXRA binding sites totally abolished the effect of TGF-β. Our results highlight the key role of EGR1 and RXRA transcription factors in the regulation of CCL2 gene in response to TGF-β pathway.
| S-EPMC8266896 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cell migration is a critical step in cancer cell invasion. Recent studies have implicated the importance of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in cancer cell migration. However, the mechanism associated with ERK-regulated cell migration is poorly understood. Using a panel of breast cancer cell lines, we detected an excellent correlation between ERK activity and cell migration. Interestingly, we noticed that a 48-hour treatment with U0126 [specific mitogen-activated protein/ERK kinase (MEK)-1/2 inhibitor] was needed to significantly inhibit breast cancer cell migration, whereas this inhibitor blocked ERK activity within 1 hour. This observation suggests that ERK-dependent gene expression, rather than direct ERK signaling, is essential for cell migration. With further study, we found that ERK activity promoted the expression of the activator protein-1 (AP1) components Fra-1 and c-Jun, both of which were necessary for cell migration. Combination of U0126 treatment and Fra-1/c-Jun knockdown did not yield further reduction in cell migration than either alone, indicating that ERKs and Fra-1/c-Jun act by the same mechanism to facilitate cell migration. In an attempt to investigate the role of Fra-1/c-Jun in cell migration, we found that the ERK-Fra-1/c-Jun axis regulated slug expression in an AP1-dependent manner. Moreover, the occurrence of U0126-induced migratory inhibition coincided with slug reduction, and silencing slug expression abrogated breast cancer cell migration. These results suggest an association between ERK-regulated cell migration and slug expression. Indeed, cell migration was not significantly inhibited by U0126 treatment or Fra-1/c-Jun silencing in cells expressing slug transgene. Our study suggests that the ERK pathway regulates breast cancer cell migration by maintaining slug expression.
| S-EPMC2795125 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Snail and Slug play critical roles in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), the mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) and in the maintenance of mesenchymal morphology. In this research, we investigated the correlation of DNA methylation with the transcriptional level of these two genes during the EMT/MET process. First, we used several cell lines associated with EMT/MET processes of induced pluripotent stem cell generation and differentiation, trophoblast invasion, as well as cancer progression to examine the association between DNA methylation and transcription levels of these two genes. We found an inverse correlation between DNA methylation of first intron regions and transcription levels of Snail and Slug genes in these EMT/METs. To further verify the results, we treated two trophoblast cell line BeWo and HTR8/SVneo and one induced pluripotent stem cell line with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-aza-dC), an inhibitor of DNA methyltransferase, which caused increased expression of these two genes. Lastly, we cloned the promoters of both Snail and Slug into pGL3-Basic vector, after in vitro DNA methylation and transfection into IMR90 and HTR8/SVneo cells; we observed the significant reduction of their promoter activity due to DNA methylation. In summary, based on these results, DNA methylation is one of the molecular mechanisms regulating Snail and Slug genes during EMT/MET process.
| S-EPMC3552036 | biostudies-literature