title: Tamoxifen inhibits ER-negative breast cancer cell invasion and metastasis by accelerating Twist1 degradation.
abstract: Twist1 is a transcription factor driving epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells. Mice with germ-line Twist1 knockout are embryonic lethal, while adult mice with inducible Twist1 knockout have no obvious health problems, suggesting that Twist1 is a viable therapeutic target for the inhibition of invasion and metastasis of breast cancer in adult patients. In this study, we expressed a luciferase protein or a Twist1-luciferase fusion protein in HeLa cells as part of a high throughput system to screen 1280 compounds in the Library of Pharmacologically Active Compounds (LOPAC) from Sigma-Aldrich for their effects on Twist1 protein expression. One of the most interesting compounds identified is tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulator used to treat ER-positive breast cancer. Tamoxifen treatment significantly accelerated Twist1 degradation in multiple cell lines including HEK293 human kidney cells, 4T1 and 168FARN mouse mammary tumor cells with either ectopically or endogenously expressed Twist1. Tamoxifen-induced Twist1 degradation could be blocked by the MG132 proteasome inhibitor, suggesting that tamoxifen induces Twist1 degradation through the ubiquitination-proteasome pathway. However, tamoxifen-induced Twist1 degradation was independent of Twist1 mRNA expression, estrogen signaling and MAPK-mediated Twist1 phosphorylation in these cells. Importantly, tamoxifen also significantly inhibited invasive behavior in Matrigel and lung metastasis in SCID-bg mice of ER-negative 4T1 mammary tumor cells, which depend on endogenous Twist1 to invade and metastasize. These results indicate that tamoxifen can significantly accelerate Twist1 degradation to suppress cancer cell invasion and metastasis, suggesting that tamoxifen can be used not only to treat ER-positive breast cancers but also to reduce Twist1-mediated invasion and metastasis in ER-negative breast cancers.
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Breast and Thyroid Cancer Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University Medical School, Xi'an, China; ; 2. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA;
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Breast and Thyroid Cancer Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University Medical School, Xi'an, China;
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA;
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; ; 3. Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA;
authors.forename: Yixiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA;
authors.forename: Xiaobin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA;
authors.forename: Jarrod
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA;
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lonard
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; ; 4. Institute for Cancer Medicine and School of Basic Medical Sciences, Luzhou Medical College, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000494:pharmacology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C103173:TWIST1 protein, human; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; D013629:Tamoxifen; C067250:Twist1 protein, mouse; D008156:Luciferases
keywords: Breast cancer; Twist1; Twist1 degradation; lung metastasis; tamoxifen