Abstract Introduction The tyrosine kinase receptors HER2 and HER3 play an important role in breast cancer. The HER2/HER3 heterodimer is a critical oncogenic unit associated with reduced relapse-free and decreased overall survival. While signaling cascades downstream of HER2 and HER3 have been studied extensively at the level of post-translational modification, little is known about the effects of HER2/HER3 overexpression and activation on gene expression in breast cancer. We have now defined the genetic landscape induced by activation of the HER2/HER3 unit in mammary cells, and have identified interleukin (IL)8 and CXCR1 as potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of HER2/HER3-overexpressing breast cancers. Methods Three-dimensional (3D) cultures, invasion and migration assays were used to determine the effects of HER2 and HER3 co-expression and activation. Gene expression analysis was performed to identify the gene network induced by HER2/HER3 in 3D cultures. Bioinformatic analysis and neutralizing antibodies were used to identify key mediators of HER2/HER3-evoked invasion. Results Co-expression of the tyrosine kinase receptors HER2 and HER3 induced migration and invasion of MCF10A cells. Microarray analysis of these cells revealed a specific "HER2/HER3 signature" comprising 80 upregulated transcripts, with IL8 being the highest (11-fold upregulation). Notably, examination of public datasets revealed high levels of IL8 transcripts in HER2-enriched as well as basal-like primary breast tumors, two subtypes characterized by a particularly poor prognosis. Moreover, IL8 expression correlated with high tumor grade and ER-negative status. Importantly, treatment with IL8-neutralizing antibodies prevented invasion of MCF10A-HER2/HER3 and BT474 cells in 3D cultures, highlighting the importance of IL8 autocrine signaling upon HER2/HER3 activation. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that HER2 and HER3 co-expression induces IL8 autocrine signaling, leading to the invasion of mammary cells. Agents targeting IL8 or its receptor CXCR1 may be useful for the treatment of HER2/HER3/IL8-positive breast cancers with invasive traits.

Abstract Introduction Early pregnancy has a strong protective effect against breast cancer in humans and rodents, but the underlying mechanism is unknown. Because breast cancers are thought to arise from specific cell subpopulations of mammary epithelia, we studied the effect of parity on the transcriptome and the differentiation/proliferation potential of specific luminal and basal mammary cells in mice. Methods Mammary epithelial cell subpopulations (luminal Sca1-, luminal Sca1+, basal stem/progenitor, and basal myoepithelial cells) were isolated by flow cytometry from parous and age-matched virgin mice and examined by using a combination of unbiased genomics, bioinformatics, in vitro colony formation, and in vivo limiting dilution transplantation assays. Specific findings were further investigated with immunohistochemistry in entire glands of parous and age-matched virgin mice. Results Transcriptome analysis revealed an upregulation of differentiation genes and a marked decrease in the Wnt/Notch signaling ratio in basal stem/progenitor cells of parous mice. Separate bioinformatics analyses showed reduced activity for the canonical Wnt transcription factor LEF1/TCF7 and increased activity for the Wnt repressor TCF3. This finding was specific for basal stem/progenitor cells and was associated with downregulation of potentially carcinogenic pathways and a reduction in the proliferation potential of this cell subpopulation in vitro and in vivo. As a possible mechanism for decreased Wnt signaling in basal stem/progenitor cells, we found a more than threefold reduction in the expression of the secreted Wnt ligand Wnt4 in total mammary cells from parous mice, which corresponded to a similar decrease in the proportion of Wnt4-secreting and estrogen/progesterone receptor-positive cells. Because recombinant Wnt4 rescued the proliferation defect of basal stem/progenitor cells in vitro, reduced Wnt4 secretion appears to be causally related to parity-induced alterations of basal stem/progenitor cell properties in mice. Conclusions By revealing that parity induces differentiation and downregulates the Wnt/Notch signaling ratio and the in vitro and in vivo proliferation potential of basal stem/progenitor cells in mice, our study sheds light on the long-term consequences of an early pregnancy. Furthermore, it opens the door to future studies assessing whether inhibitors of the Wnt pathway may be used to mimic the parity-induced protective effect against breast cancer.