title: Retinoblastoma protein determines aggressiveness in triple-negative breast cancer.
abstract: Retinoblastoma protein (RB) is one of the most important tumor suppressors and functions in multiple biological pathways that are deregulated during tumor initiation and progression. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a reversible embryonic process by which epithelial cells lose cell-cell contact and polarity, and its aberrant activation can trigger tumor progression and metastasis. Previously, it has been shown that depletion of RB initiates EMT by downregulating the adhesion molecule E-cadherin. The evaluated article suggests that RB inactivation contributes to loss of cell cycle control and also leads to downregulation of the miR-200 family, thereby causing upregulation of ZEB expression and consequently EMT by downregulation of E-cadherin. RB inactivation could be a key event underlying the mesenchymal and aggressive phenotype of triple-negative breast cancer. Furthermore, exploring links between RB inactivation and EMT might reveal new therapeutic targets for triple-negative breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London, UK. j.jacob@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: Jimmy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: Adam E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Frampton
authors.forename: Leandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stebbing
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krell