BRD4 Regulates Breast Cancer Dissemination Through Jagged1/Notch1 Signaling Guillaume Andrieu1, Anna H
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Published OnlineFirst September 20, 2016; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-0559 Cancer Molecular and Cellular Pathobiology Research BRD4 Regulates Breast Cancer Dissemination through Jagged1/Notch1 Signaling Guillaume Andrieu1, Anna H. Tran1, Katherine J. Strissel1, and Gerald V. Denis1,2 Abstract The bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) proteins are epige- expression and Notch1 signaling. BRD4-selective knockdown sup- netic "readers" of acetylated histones in chromatin and have been pressed Notch1 activity and impeded breast cancer migration and identified as promising therapeutic targets in diverse cancers. How- invasion. BRD4 was required for IL6-stimulated, Notch1-induced ever, it remains unclear how individual family members participate migration and invasion, coupling microenvironment inflamma- in cancer progression and small molecule inhibitors such as JQ1 tion with cancer propagation. Moreover, in patients, BRD4 and can target functionally independent BET proteins. Here, we report a Jagged1expression positivelycorrelated with the presence of distant signaling pathway involving BRD4 and the ligand/receptor pair metastases. These results identify a BRD4/Jagged1/Notch1 signal- Jagged1/Notch1 that sustains triple-negative breast cancer migra- ing pathway that is critical for dissemination of triple-negative tion and invasion. BRD4, but not BRD2 or BRD3, regulated Jagged1 breast cancer. Cancer Res; 76(22); 1–13. Ó2016 AACR. Introduction recent study reported that BRD4 interacts with the transcription factor Twist to regulate Twist-dependent transcription pro- The bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) proteins form a grams and elicit breast cancer tumorigenesis (20). However, family of chromatin-associated proteins that recognize epige- the molecular mechanisms by which BET proteins participate in netic marks, such as N-e-acetylated lysine residues in nucleo- cancer progression are not fully established. We build on these somal histones. BET proteins interact with chromatin and insights to develop a hypothesis that BET proteins play a role in recruit members of the transcription machinery to target pro- the regulation of breast cancer aggressiveness. moters to regulate gene expression (1, 2). In mammals, the BET Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive subtype that family is composed of three ubiquitously expressed proteins: lacks estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and epidermal BRD2, BRD3, BRD4, and a testis-specificform,BRDT(3).We growth factor receptor 2. These tumors are extremely challeng- were the first to establish a link between expression and ing for therapy. Patients with triple-negative breast cancer function of a BET protein and human cancer (3). A consistent cannot be treated by hormone therapy and present a worse literature has since reported essential roles of BRD2 and BRD4 outcome after conventional chemotherapy (21). Moreover, the in cell-cycle control and cell proliferation, notably through lack of identified "druggable" molecular targets severely limits their crucial role in regulating gene transcription (4–7). Like the development of targeted therapeutic strategies. Triple-neg- numerous other chromatin-regulatory proteins, the cancers in ative breast cancer cells activate multiple transcription pro- which BET proteins have been implicated are diverse. Small- grams, such as the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), molecule BET-specific bromodomain inhibitors, e.g., (S)-JQ1 which confers high plasticity, increased migration, and inva- (8), highlight the therapeutic impact of targeting BET proteins sion capabilities that can promote tumor dissemination (22). in important malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia The breast tumor microenvironment is composed of various (9, 10), B-cell lymphoma (11), lung (12), prostate (13), breast cell types, including adipocytes; fibroblasts; infiltrating (14), pancreatic (15), and colorectal cancers (16). Several immune cells, such as macrophages and lymphocytes; and studies have reported that BET inhibition downregulates the stem cells (23). Numerous factors secreted within this micro- proto-oncogene MYC and its associated transcription (9, 10, environment have been reported to sustain tumor progression, 17, 18). Moreover, BRD2 has been shown to associate with including growth factors, hormones, cytokines, and chemo- chromatin remodeling complexes to regulate transcription pro- kines. Amid this complexity, inflammatory signaling molecules grams associated with cell proliferation (19). Interestingly, a have focused investigators' attention, because a direct associ- ation exists between chronic inflammation and cancer devel- opment (24). Notably, multiple proinflammatory mediators 1Cancer Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Mas- sustain the acquisition of an aggressive phenotype by tumor sachusetts. 2Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Thera- cells that can lead to resistance and dissemination. Significant- peutics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts. ly, BET protein inhibitors like (S)-JQ1 have anti-inflammatory Corresponding Author: Gerald V. Denis, Boston University School of Medicine, properties (25, 26), suggesting that BET protein targeting may 72 East Concord Street, Room K520, Boston, MA 02118. Phone: 617-414-1371, disrupt inflammation-induced cancer aggressiveness. Here, we Fax: 617-638-5673; E-mail: [email protected] identify a role for BRD4 function in invasive properties of doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-0559 triple-negative breast cancer and reveal the underlying molec- Ó2016 American Association for Cancer Research. ular mechanisms. www.aacrjournals.org OF1 Downloaded from cancerres.aacrjournals.org on September 28, 2021. © 2016 American Association for Cancer Research. Published OnlineFirst September 20, 2016; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-0559 Andrieu et al. Materials and Methods Samples containing 25 mg of protein were resolved by SDS- PAGEandtransferredontonitrocellulosemembranes.After Cell culture saturation of non-specific binding sites in TBS-BSA 5%, mem- Human breast cancer cell lines maintained at the NCI Office of branes were probed with primary antibodies, then visualized Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers (PS-OC) Network Biore- with HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies. After incubation in source Core Facility (PBCF) were contractually obtained through ECL, membrane-associated light emission was quantified with the ATCC, under a Material Transfer Agreement. The cell lines a gel imager. have been authenticated by the NIH Physical Sciences Oncology Consortium. MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 were cultured in DMEM. SUM149PT cells were cultured in DMEM/F12 þ 5 mg/mL insulin qRT-PCR and 0.5 mg/mL hydrocortisone (Sigma). All culture media were Total RNA was extracted using the RNEasy kit (Qiagen). Reverse supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) or human transcription reactions were performed on 1 mg of RNA with the serum (Millipore) where specified and 1% antibiotics (penicil- QuantiTect Reverse Transcription kit (Qiagen). The primers lin/streptomycin; Thermo Fischer Scientific). Cells were cultured sequences used for this study are listed in Supplementary Table S1. PCR amplifications were performed with the MESA GREEN at 37 C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere. qPCR MasterMix (Eurogentec) on an ABI Prism 7500 thermal Antibodies and reagents cycler. 2 fi The following antibodies were used: anti-BRD2, BRD3 and The gene screening was conducted with the RT Pro ler PCR BRD4 (Bethyl Laboratories), anti-Jagged1 and anti-a-tubulin EMT Array (Qiagen). (Santa Cruz Biotechnology), anti-phosphoY705-STAT3, total STAT3, and anti-Notch1 Val1744 (Cell Signaling Technology). Immunocytochemistry staining and confocal imaging HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies were purchased from Cells were fixed in absolute methanol for 5 minutes at À20 C Bio-Rad. Fluorochrome-conjugated secondary antibodies were and then permeabilized with 0.2% Triton X-100 in PBS buffer for obtained from The Jackson Laboratory. (R)- and (S)-JQ1 were 10 minutes. After saturation in blocking buffer (0.02% Triton purchased from Cayman Chemicals. Recombinant human IL6 X-100, 2% BSA in PBS) for 30 minutes, cells were incubated with and DAPT were purchased from Sigma. primary antibodies and then fluorochrome-conjugated secondary antibodies, both diluted in blocking buffer for 1 hours. Finally, Plasmids, siRNAs, and transfection coverslips were mounted with ProLong Gold with DAPI (Thermo fi Plasmids coding for His-tagged BET proteins, His-Jagged1, or Fischer Scienti c). Image acquisition was conducted using a Leica control vector pReceiver-M01 were purchased from GeneCo- SP5 confocal microscope. For z-stack acquisition, a step of 0.3 mm poeia. ON-TARGETplus BET protein siRNAs were obtained from was set. For calculation of NICD1 nuclear score, cells stained for Dharmacon and Jagged1 siRNA (sc-3702) from Santa Cruz Bio- NICD1 were entirely imaged in 3D and then z-stacks were technology. Cells were transfected with plasmids and siRNAs by projected into a single image by sum projection using ImageJ Lipofectamine 2000 reagent (Thermo Fischer Scientific). software (NIH). A mask based on DAPI staining was created to isolate the nucleus of each cell. Based on that mask, nuclear Migration and invasion assays background-corrected NICD1 intensity was measured. The cyto- For scratch assays, 100,000 cells were plated in 6-well plates. plasm area was determined by subtracting the nuclear mask from When confluence was reached, cell monolayers were scraped the entire cell area and cytoplasmic