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Jalaleddine N, El-Hajjar L, Dakik H, Shaito A, Saliba J, Safi R, Zibara K, El-Sabban M. Pannexin1 Is Associated with Enhanced Epithelial-To-Mesenchymal Transition in Human Patient Breast Cancer Tissues and in Breast Cancer Cell Lines. Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:cancers11121967. [PMID: 31817827 PMCID: PMC6966616 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11121967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Revised: 10/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Loss of connexin-mediated cell-cell communication is a hallmark of breast cancer progression. Pannexin1 (PANX1), a glycoprotein that shares structural and functional features with connexins and engages in cell communication with its environment, is highly expressed in breast cancer metastatic foci; however, PANX1 contribution to metastatic progression is still obscure. Here we report elevated expression of PANX1 in different breast cancer (BRCA) subtypes using RNA-seq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The elevated PANX1 expression correlated with poorer outcomes in TCGA BRCA patients. In addition, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway genes correlated positively with PANX1 expression. Pharmacological inhibition of PANX1, in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells, or genetic ablation of PANX1, in MDA-MB-231 cells, reverted the EMT phenotype, as evidenced by decreased expression of EMT markers. In addition, PANX1 inhibition or genetic ablation decreased the invasiveness of MDA-MB-231 cells. Our results suggest PANX1 overexpression in breast cancer is associated with a shift towards an EMT phenotype, in silico and in vitro, attributing to it a tumor-promoting effect, with poorer clinical outcomes in breast cancer patients. This association offers a novel target for breast cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nour Jalaleddine
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Beirut Arab University, Beirut 1107-2809, Lebanon;
| | - Layal El-Hajjar
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon;
| | - Hassan Dakik
- University of Tours, EA 7501 GICC, CNRS ERL 7001 LNOx, CEDEX 01, 37032 Tours, France;
| | - Abdullah Shaito
- Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese International University, Beirut 1105, Lebanon;
| | - Jessica Saliba
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, Hadath, Beirut 1003, Lebanon;
| | - Rémi Safi
- Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon;
| | - Kazem Zibara
- ER045-Laboratory of Stem Cells, PRASE, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, Hadath, Beirut 1003, Lebanon;
| | - Marwan El-Sabban
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +961-1-350000 (ext. 4765-4766)
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