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Embryonic Protein NODAL Regulates the Breast Tumour Microenvironment by Reprogramming Cancer-Derived Secretomes

Dylan Dieters-Castator; Paola Marino Dantonio; Matt Piaseczny; Guihua Zhang; Jiahui Liu; Miljan Kuljanin; Stephen Sherman; Michael Jewer; Katherine Quesnel; Eun Young Kang; Martin Köbel; Gabrielle M. Siegers; Andrew Leask; David Hess; Gilles Lajoie; Lynne-Marie Postovit

2020-07-10 cancer biology
10.1101/2020.07.09.195842 bioRxiv
Show abstract

The tumour microenvironment (TME) is an important mediator of breast cancer progression. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) constitute a major component of the TME and may originate from tissue-associated fibroblasts or infiltrating mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). The mechanisms by which cancer cells activate fibroblasts and recruit MSCs to the TME are largely unknown, but likely include deposition of a pro-tumourigenic secretome. The secreted embryonic protein NODAL is clinically associated with breast cancer stage and promotes tumour growth, metastasis, and vascularization. Herein, we show that NODAL expression correlates with the presence of activated fibroblasts in human triple negative breast cancers and that it directly induces CAF phenotypes. We further show that NODAL reprograms cancer cell secretomes by simultaneously altering levels of chemokines (e.g. CXCL1), cytokines (e.g. IL-6) and growth factors (e.g. PDGFRA), leading to alterations in MSC chemotaxis. We therefore demonstrate a hitherto unappreciated mechanism underlying the dynamic regulation of the TME.

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