Lin Zhao, Roche Megan E, Díaz-Barros Víctor, Domingo-Vidal Marina, Whitaker-Menezes Diana, Tuluc Madalina, Uppal Guldeep, Caro Jaime, Curry Joseph M, Martinez-Outschoorn Ubaldo
Department of Medical Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
Immunology, Microenvironment & Metastasis Program, Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Cell Stress. 2024 Mar 11;8:1-20. doi: 10.15698/cst2024.03.293. eCollection 2024.
Mesenchymal-epithelial plasticity driving cancer progression in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) is undetermined. This work identifies a subgroup of CAFs in human breast cancer exhibiting mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) or epithelial-like profile with high miR-200c expression. MiR-200c overexpression in fibroblasts is sufficient to drive breast cancer aggressiveness. Oxidative stress in the tumor microenvironment induces miR-200c by DNA demethylation. Proteomics, RNA-seq and functional analyses reveal that miR-200c is a novel positive regulator of NFκB-HIF signaling via COMMD1 downregulation and stimulates pro-tumorigenic inflammation and glycolysis. Reprogramming fibroblasts toward MET via miR-200c reduces stemness and induces a senescent phenotype. This pro-tumorigenic profile in CAFs fosters carcinoma cell resistance to apoptosis, proliferation and immunosuppression, leading to primary tumor growth, metastases, and resistance to immuno-chemotherapy. Conversely, miR-200c inhibition in fibroblasts restrains tumor growth with abated oxidative stress and an anti-tumorigenic immune environment. This work determines the mechanisms by which MET in CAFs via miR-200c transcriptional enrichment with DNA demethylation triggered by oxidative stress promotes cancer progression. CAFs undergoing MET trans-differentiation and senescence coordinate heterotypic signaling that may be targeted as an anti-cancer strategy.
间充质-上皮可塑性驱动癌症相关成纤维细胞(CAFs)中的癌症进展,其机制尚未明确。这项研究确定了人类乳腺癌中一组CAFs,它们表现出间充质-上皮转化(MET)或具有高miR-200c表达的上皮样特征。成纤维细胞中miR-200c的过表达足以驱动乳腺癌的侵袭性。肿瘤微环境中的氧化应激通过DNA去甲基化诱导miR-200c。蛋白质组学、RNA测序和功能分析表明,miR-200c是通过下调COMMD1对NFκB-HIF信号通路的新型正向调节因子,并刺激促肿瘤炎症和糖酵解。通过miR-200c将成纤维细胞重编程为MET可降低干性并诱导衰老表型。CAFs中的这种促肿瘤特征促进癌细胞对凋亡、增殖和免疫抑制的抵抗,导致原发性肿瘤生长、转移以及对免疫化疗的抵抗。相反,抑制成纤维细胞中的miR-200c可减轻氧化应激和抗肿瘤免疫环境,从而抑制肿瘤生长。这项研究确定了通过氧化应激触发的DNA去甲基化使miR-200c转录富集,从而使CAFs发生MET促进癌症进展的机制。经历MET转分化和衰老的CAFs协调异型信号传导,这可能成为一种抗癌策略的靶点。