NAC1 promotes stemness and regulates myeloid-derived cell status in triple-negative breast cancer
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly lethal breast cancer (BC) subtype driven by cancer stem cells (CSCs) and an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Our study reveals that nucleus accumbens associated protein 1 (NAC1), a member of the BTB/POZ gene family, plays a crucial role in TNBC by maintaining tumor stemness and influencing myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). High NAC1 expression correlates with worse TNBC prognosis. NAC1 knockdown reduced CSC markers and tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Additionally, NAC1 affects oncogenic pathways such as the CD44-JAK1-STAT3 axis and immunosuppressive signals (TGFβ, IL-6). Intriguingly, the impact of NAC1 on tumor growth varies with the host immune status, showing diminished tumorigenicity in natural killer (NK) cell-competent mice but increased tumorigenicity in NK cell-deficient ones. This highlights the important role of the host immune system in TNBC progression. In addition, high NAC1 level in MDSCs also supports TNBC stemness. Together, this study implies NAC1 as a promising therapeutic target able to simultaneously eradicate CSCs and mitigate immune evasion.
Authors
- Binhua P. Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6136-6749)
- Nathan L. Vanderford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0810-2701)
- Hamed Hemati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6436-5111)
- Felix Oyelami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5194-1968)
- Xingcong Ren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4430-2935)
- Jianxun Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9734-6176)
- Chrispus Ngule (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4838-0684)
- S. Emily Bachert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2596-2604)
- Xia Liu
- Andrew Shinkle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2369-9446)
- Younhee Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8458-1495)
- Yi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8373-017X)
- Dong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7097-4993)
- Jianlong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1317-6457)
- Jinhwan Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0719-0655)
- Xiaofang Xiong
- Hongyan Jia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5631-498X)
- Ruyi Shi
- Jin-Ming Yang
Institutions
- Texas A&M Health Science Center (US)
- University of Kentucky (US)
- Shanxi Medical University (CN)
- Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
- Markey Cancer Center (US)
- Soochow University (CN)
- Texas A&M Health Science Center (US)
- First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University (CN)
- Texas A&M University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Molecular Cancer
- Published
- 2024-09-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-024-02102-y
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Cancer Cells and Metastasis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.70
Funders
- Susan G. Komen for the Cure
- University of Kentucky
- National Institutes of Health
- National Cancer Institute