1. ESR1 Fusions Invoke Breast Cancer Subtype-Dependent Enrichment of Ligand-Independent Oncogenic Signatures and Phenotypes.
- Author
-
Yates ME, Waltermire H, Mori K, Li Z, Li Y, Guzolik H, Wang X, Liu T, Atkinson JM, Hooda J, Lee AV, and Oesterreich S
- Subjects
- Humans, Female, Cell Line, Tumor, Phenotype, YAP-Signaling Proteins genetics, YAP-Signaling Proteins metabolism, SOX9 Transcription Factor genetics, SOX9 Transcription Factor metabolism, Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast genetics, Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast pathology, Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast metabolism, Oncogene Proteins, Fusion genetics, Oncogene Proteins, Fusion metabolism, Signal Transduction genetics, Carcinoma, Lobular genetics, Carcinoma, Lobular metabolism, Carcinoma, Lobular pathology, Transcription Factors genetics, Transcription Factors metabolism, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing genetics, Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing metabolism, Ligands, Cell Proliferation genetics, Breast Neoplasms genetics, Breast Neoplasms pathology, Breast Neoplasms metabolism, Estrogen Receptor alpha genetics, Estrogen Receptor alpha metabolism
- Abstract
Breast cancer is a leading cause of female mortality and despite advancements in personalized therapeutics, metastatic disease largely remains incurable due to drug resistance. The estrogen receptor (ER, ESR1) is expressed in two-thirds of all breast cancer, and under endocrine stress, somatic ESR1 mutations arise in approximately 30% of cases that result in endocrine resistance. We and others reported ESR1 fusions as a mechanism of ER-mediated endocrine resistance. ER fusions, which retain the activation function 1- and DNA-binding domains, harbor ESR1 exons 1 to 6 fused to an in-frame gene partner resulting in loss of the ER ligand-binding domain (LBD). We demonstrate that in a no-special type (invasive ductal carcinoma [IDC]-NST) and an invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) cell line, ER fusions exhibit robust hyperactivation of canonical ER signaling pathways independent of estradiol or antiendocrine therapies. We employ cell line models stably overexpressing ER fusions with concurrent endogenous ER knockdown to minimize endogenous ER influence. Cell lines exhibited shared transcriptomic enrichment in pathways known to be drivers of metastatic disease, notably MYC signaling. Cells expressing the 3' fusion partners SOX9 and YAP1 consistently demonstrated enhanced growth and cell survival. ILC cells expressing the DAB2 fusion led to enhanced growth, survival, and migration, phenotypes not appreciated in the IDC-NST DAB2 model. Herein, we report that cell line activity is subtype-, fusion-, and assay-specific, suggesting that LBD loss, the fusion partner, and the cellular landscape all influence fusion activities. Therefore, it will be critical to assess fusion frequency in the context of the clinicopathology., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society.)
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF