Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

8-29-2023

Journal

Cell Reports

DOI

10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112821

PMID

37467106

PMCID

PMC12369075

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

8-22-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

Aberrant activation of the forkhead protein FOXA1 is observed in advanced hormone-related cancers. However, the key mediators of high FOXA1 signaling remain elusive. We demonstrate that ectopic high FOXA1 (H-FOXA1) expression promotes estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer (BC) metastasis in a xenograft mouse model. Mechanistically, H-FOXA1 reprograms ER-chromatin binding to elicit a core gene signature (CGS) enriched in ER+ endocrine-resistant (EndoR) cells. We identify Secretome14, a CGS subset encoding ER-dependent cancer secretory proteins, as a strong predictor for poor outcomes of ER+ BC. It is elevated in ER+ metastases vs. primary tumors, irrespective of ESR1 mutations. Genomic ER binding near Secretome14 genes is also increased in mutant ER-expressing or mitogen-treated ER+ BC cells and in ER+ metastatic vs. primary tumors, suggesting a convergent pathway including high growth factor receptor signaling in activating pro-metastatic secretome genes. Our findings uncover H-FOXA1-induced ER reprogramming that drives EndoR and metastasis partly via an H-FOXA1/ER-dependent secretome.

Keywords

CP: Cancer, breast cancer, cistrome, endocrine resistance, enhancer, epigenetic, estrogen receptor, forkhead box protein A1, metastasis, secretome, transcription factor

Published Open-Access

yes

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