title: Periostin contributes to the acquisition of multipotent stem cell-like properties in human mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer cells.
abstract: Periostin (POSTN), a recently characterised matricellular protein, is frequently dysregulated in various malignant cancers and promotes tumor metastatic growth. POSTN plays a critical role in the crosstalk between murine breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) and their niche to permit metastatic colonization. However, whether pro-metastatic capability of POSTN is associated with multipotent potentials of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has not been documented. Here we demonstrate that POSTN promotes a stem cell-like trait and a mesenchymal phenotype in human mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer cells. Interestingly, ectopic overexpression of POSTN or recombinant POSTN treatment can induce human mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer cells differentiation into multiple cell lineages that recapitulate part of the multilineage differentiation potentials of MSCs. Moreover, POSTN is highly expressed in bone marrow-derived MSCs and their derived adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteoblasts in vitro. Furthermore, POSTN promotes the growth of xenograft tumors in vivo. POSTN-overexpressing human mammary epithelial cells enhance breast tumor growth and metastasis. These data thus provide evidence of a new role for POSTN in mammary epithelial neoplasia and metastasis, suggesting that epithelial cancer cells might acquire CSC-like traits and a mesenchymal phenotype, as well as the multipotent potentials of MSCs to promote tumorigenesis and metastasis. Therefore, targeting POSTN and other extracellular matrix components of tumor microenvironment may help to develop new therapeutical strategies to inhibit tumor metastasis.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yangmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Weiping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Xiaoguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Shuyong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Gaoliang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ouyang
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000235:genetics*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics; D018450:Disease Progression; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D024510:Muscle Development / Q000235:genetics; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology; D010641:Phenotype; D047368:Tumor Burden / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; C512835:POSTN protein, human