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Springer Nature [academic journals on nature.com], Oncogene, 15(40), p. 2651-2666, 2021

DOI: 10.1038/s41388-021-01719-3

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Stromal NRG1 in luminal breast cancer defines pro-fibrotic and migratory cancer-associated fibroblasts

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

AbstractHER3 is highly expressed in luminal breast cancer subtypes. Its activation by NRG1 promotes activation of AKT and ERK1/2, contributing to tumour progression and therapy resistance. HER3-targeting agents that block this activation, are currently under phase 1/2 clinical studies, and although they have shown favorable tolerability, their activity as a single agent has proven to be limited. Here we show that phosphorylation and activation of HER3 in luminal breast cancer cells occurs in a paracrine manner and is mediated by NRG1 expressed by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Moreover, we uncover a HER3-independent NRG1 signaling in CAFs that results in the induction of a strong migratory and pro-fibrotic phenotype, describing a subtype of CAFs with elevated expression of NRG1 and an associated transcriptomic profile that determines their functional properties. Finally, we identified Hyaluronan Synthase 2 (HAS2), a targetable molecule strongly correlated with NRG1, as an attractive player supporting NRG1 signaling in CAFs.