Stat3 regulates ErbB-2 expression and co-opts ErbB-2 nuclear function to induce miR-21 expression, PDCD4 downregulation and breast cancer metastasis

Membrane overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase ErbB-2 (MErbB-2) accounts for a clinically aggressive breast cancer (BC) subtype (ErbB-2-positive) with increased incidence of metastases. We and others demonstrated that nuclear ErbB-2 (NErbB-2) also plays a key role in BC and is a poor progno...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Venturutti, Leandro, Romero, Lucía Virginia, Urtreger, Alejandro Jorge, Chervo, María Florencia, Cordo Russo, Rosalia Ines, Mercogliano, María Florencia, Inurrigarro, G., Pereyra, M. G., Proietti Anastasi, Cecilia Jazmín, Izzo, Franco, Díaz Flaqué, María Celeste, Sundblad, Victoria, Roa, J. C., Guzmán, P., Bal, Elisa Dora, Charreau, Eduardo Hernan, Schillaci, Roxana, Elizalde, Patricia Virginia
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/23342
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/23342
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Stat 3
Erbb-2
Mir-21
Breast Cancer
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3
Descripción
Sumario:Membrane overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase ErbB-2 (MErbB-2) accounts for a clinically aggressive breast cancer (BC) subtype (ErbB-2-positive) with increased incidence of metastases. We and others demonstrated that nuclear ErbB-2 (NErbB-2) also plays a key role in BC and is a poor prognostic factor in ErbB-2-positive tumors. The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3), another player in BC, has been recognized as a downstream mediator of MErbB-2 action in BC metastasis. Here, we revealed an unanticipated novel direction of the ErbB-2 and Stat3 interaction underlying BC metastasis. We found that Stat3 binds to its response elements (GAS) at the ErbB-2 promoter to upregulate ErbB-2 transcription in metastatic, ErbB-2-positive BC. We validated these results in several BC subtypes displaying metastatic and non-metastatic ability, highlighting Stat3 general role as upstream regulator of ErbB-2 expression in BC. Moreover, we showed that Stat3 co-opts NErbB-2 function by recruiting ErbB-2 as its coactivator at the GAS sites in the promoter of microRNA-21 (miR-21), a metastasis-promoting microRNA (miRNA). Using an ErbB-2 nuclear localization domain mutant and a constitutively activated ErbB-2 variant, we found that NErbB-2 role as a Stat3 coactivator and also its direct role as transcription factor upregulate miR-21 in BC. This reveals a novel function of NErbB-2 as a regulator of miRNAs expression. Increased levels of miR-21, in turn, downregulate the expression of the metastasis-suppressor protein programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4), a validated miR-21 target. Using an in vivo model of metastatic ErbB-2-postive BC, in which we silenced Stat3 and reconstituted ErbB-2 or miR-21 expression, we showed that both are downstream mediators of Stat3-driven metastasis. Supporting the clinical relevance of our results, we found an inverse correlation between ErbB-2/Stat3 nuclear co-expression and PDCD4 expression in ErbB-2-positive primary invasive BCs. Our findings identify Stat3 and NErbB-2 as novel therapeutic targets to inhibit ErbB-2-positive BC metastasis.