Gasdermin-B promotes invasion and metastasis in breast cancer cells

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 27;9(3):e90099. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090099. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Gasdermin B (GSDMB) belongs to the Gasdermin protein family that comprises four members (GSDMA-D). Gasdermin B expression has been detected in some tumor types such as hepatocarcinomas, gastric and cervix cancers; and its over-expression has been related to tumor progression. At least four splicing isoforms of GSDMB have been identified, which may play differential roles in cancer. However, the implication of GSDMB in carcinogenesis and tumor progression is not well understood. Here, we uncover for the first time the functional implication of GSDMB in breast cancer. Our data shows that high levels of GSDMB expression is correlated with reduced survival and increased metastasis in breast cancer patients included in an expression dataset (>1,000 cases). We demonstrate that GSDMB is upregulated in breast carcinomas compared to normal breast tissue, being the isoform 2 (GSDMB-2) the most differentially expressed. In order to evaluate the functional role of GSDMB in breast cancer two GSDMB isoforms were studied (GSDMB-1 and GSDMB-2). The overexpression of both isoforms in the MCF7 breast carcinoma cell line promotes cell motility and invasion, while its silencing in HCC1954 breast carcinoma cells decreases the migratory and invasive phenotype. Importantly, we demonstrate that both isoforms have a differential role on the activation of Rac-1 and Cdc-42 Rho-GTPases. Moreover, our data support that GSMDB-2 induces a pro-tumorigenic and pro-metastatic behavior in mouse xenograft models as compared to GSDMB-1. Finally, we observed that although both GSDMB isoforms interact in vitro with the chaperone Hsp90, only the GSDMB-2 isoform relies on this chaperone for its stability. Taken together, our results provide for the first time evidences that GSDMB-2 induces invasion, tumor progression and metastasis in MCF7 cells and that GSDMB can be considered as a new potential prognostic marker in breast cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Animals
  • Breast Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Breast Neoplasms / mortality
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / mortality
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / pathology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Movement / genetics
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / metabolism
  • Datasets as Topic
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Gelatin / metabolism
  • Gene Expression
  • Genes, Reporter
  • HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins / metabolism
  • Heterografts
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Imaging
  • Neoplasm Grading
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Neoplasm Proteins / genetics*
  • Neoplasm Proteins / metabolism
  • Phenotype
  • Prognosis
  • Protein Binding
  • Proteolysis
  • rho GTP-Binding Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • GSDMB protein, human
  • HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins
  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • Gelatin
  • rho GTP-Binding Proteins