LncRNA PART1 Promotes Proliferation and Migration, Is Associated with Cancer Stem Cells, and Alters the miRNA Landscape in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Simple Summary Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in cancer progression. Herein we provide new information regarding the role of prostate androgen regulated transcript 1 (PART1). We show that the lncRNA PART1 is enriched in triple-negative breast cancers and cancer stem cell populations. We demonstrate its role in cancer cell and tumor growth and provide evidence for its association with worse survival in a subset of breast cancer patients. Importantly, our genome-wide analyses have revealed novel insights into the function of this lncRNA, demonstrating how it changes the microRNA (miRNA) landscape leading to genome-wide mRNA expression regulation. Our study suggests that PART1 represents an attractive target for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancers. Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are aggressive, lack targeted therapies and are enriched in cancer stem cells (CSCs). Novel therapies which target CSCs within these tumors would likely lead to improved outcomes for TNBC patients. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are potential therapeutic targets for TNBC and CSCs. We demonstrate that lncRNA prostate androgen regulated transcript 1 (PART1) is enriched in TNBCs and in Aldefluor(high) CSCs, and is associated with worse outcomes among basal-like breast cancer patients. Although PART1 is androgen inducible in breast cancer cells, analysis of patient tumors indicates its androgen regulation has minimal clinical impact. Knockdown of PART1 in TNBC cell lines and a patient-derived xenograft decreased cell proliferation, migration, tumor growth, and mammosphere formation potential. Transcriptome analyses revealed that the lncRNA affects expression of hundreds of genes (e.g., myosin-Va, MYO5A; zinc fingers and homeoboxes protein 2, ZHX2). MiRNA 4.0 GeneChip and TaqMan assays identified multiple miRNAs that are regulated by cytoplasmic PART1, including miR-190a-3p, miR-937-5p, miR-22-5p, miR-30b-3p, and miR-6870-5p. We confirmed the novel interaction between PART1 and miR-937-5p. In general, miRNAs altered by PART1 were less abundant than PART1, potentially leading to cell line-specific effects in terms miRNA-PART1 interactions and gene regulation. Together, the altered miRNA landscape induced by PART1 explains most of the protein-coding gene regulation changes (e.g., MYO5A) induced by PART1 in TNBC.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that lncRNA PART1 is enriched in triple-negative breast cancers and cancer stem cells, and is associated with worse outcomes in some breast cancer patients. PART1 alters the miRNA landscape, leading to genome-wide mRNA expression regulation, making it an attractive target for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancers.