- Korpal, Manav;
- Ell, Brian J;
- Buffa, Francesca M;
- Ibrahim, Toni;
- Blanco, Mario A;
- Celià-Terrassa, Toni;
- Mercatali, Laura;
- Khan, Zia;
- Goodarzi, Hani;
- Hua, Yuling;
- Wei, Yong;
- Hu, Guohong;
- Garcia, Benjamin A;
- Ragoussis, Jiannis;
- Amadori, Dino;
- Harris, Adrian L;
- Kang, Yibin
Although the role of miR-200s in regulating E-cadherin expression and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is well established, their influence on metastatic colonization remains controversial. Here we have used clinical and experimental models of breast cancer metastasis to discover a pro-metastatic role of miR-200s that goes beyond their regulation of E-cadherin and epithelial phenotype. Overexpression of miR-200s is associated with increased risk of metastasis in breast cancer and promotes metastatic colonization in mouse models, phenotypes that cannot be recapitulated by E-cadherin expression alone. Genomic and proteomic analyses revealed global shifts in gene expression upon miR-200 overexpression toward that of highly metastatic cells. miR-200s promote metastatic colonization partly through direct targeting of Sec23a, which mediates secretion of metastasis-suppressive proteins, including Igfbp4 and Tinagl1, as validated by functional and clinical correlation studies. Overall, these findings suggest a pleiotropic role of miR-200s in promoting metastatic colonization by influencing E-cadherin-dependent epithelial traits and Sec23a-mediated tumor cell secretome.