GSE210870
Loss of SNAI1 induces cellular plasticity in invasive triple-negative breast cancer cells
To investigate the effect of SNAI1 Knockout on development and growth of triple-negative human breast cancer cells The transcription factor SNAI1 mediates epithelial-mesenchymal transition, fibroblast activation and controls inter-tissue migration. High SNAI1 expression characterizes metastatic triple-negative breast carcinomas, and its knockout by CRISPR/Cas9 uncovered establishment of an epithelio-mesenchymal phenotype accompanied by reduced signaling by the cytokine TGF-ß. The SNAI1 knockout cells exhibited plasticity in differentiation, drifting towards the luminal phenotype, gained stemness potential and could differentiate into acinar mammospheres in 3D culture. Loss of SNAI1 derepressed the transcription factor FOXA1, a pioneering factor of mammary luminal progenitors. FOXA1 induced a specific gene program, including the androgen receptor (AR). Inhibiting AR via a specific antagonist regenerated the basal phenotype and blocked acinar differentiation. Thus, loss of SNAI1 in the context of triple-negative breast carcinoma cells promotes an intermediary luminal progenitor phenotype that gains differentiation plasticity, based on the dual transcriptional action of FOXA1 and AR. This function of SNAI1 provides means to separate cell invasiveness from progenitor cell de-differentiation as independent cellular programs. Overall design: Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for MDA-MB-231 wildtype and SNAI1 knockout cells(WT, CS16 and CS19).