YAP and β-catenin cooperate to drive oncogenesis in basal breast cancer
Hazel M. Quinn, Regina Vogel, Oliver Popp, Philipp Mertins, Linxiang Lan, Clemens Messerschmidt, Alexandro Landshammer, Kamil Lisek, Sophie Chateau-Joubert, Elisabetta Marangoni, Elle Koren, Yaron Fuchs and Walter Birchmeier
Cancer Research, 2021
Targeting cancer stem cells (CSC) can serve as an effective approach toward limiting resistance to therapies. While basal-like (triple-negative) breast cancers encompass cells with CSC features, rational therapies remain poorly established. We show here that the receptor tyrosine kinase Met promotes YAP activity in basal-like breast cancer and find enhanced YAP activity within the CSC population. Interfering with YAP activity delayed basal-like cancer formation, prevented luminal to basal trans-differentiation, and reduced CSC. YAP knockout mammary glands revealed a decrease in β-catenin target genes, suggesting that YAP is required for nuclear β-catenin activity. Mechanistically, nuclear YAP interacted with β-catenin and TEAD4 at gene regulatory elements. Proteomic patient data revealed an upregulation of the YAP signature in basal-like breast cancers. Our findings demonstrate that in basal-like breast cancers, β-catenin activity is dependent on YAP signalling and controls the CSC program. These findings suggest that targeting the YAP/TEAD4/β-catenin complex offers a potential therapeutic strategy for eradicating CSCs in basal-like breast cancers.
https://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2021/02/11/0008-5472.CAN-20-2801