WT1 expression in breast cancer disrupts the epithelial/mesenchymal balance of tumour cells and correlates with the metabolic response to docetaxel

The Wilms'' Tumour gene 1 (WT1), encodes for a complex protein with transcription factor activity which is essential in mammals throughout life. We provide a complete study of WT1 expression across different breast cancer subtypes as well as isoform specific expression analysis. Using in vitro cell lines, clinical samples and publicly available gene expression datasets, we demonstrate that WT1 plays a role in regulating the epithelial-mesenchymal balance of breast cancer cells and that WT1-expressing tumours are mainly associated with a mesenchymal phenotype. WT1 gene expression also correlates with CYP3A4 levels and is associated with poorer response to taxane treatment. Overall design: RNA profiles of breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-157) were generated by deep sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. Untreated MDA-MB-157 cells, MDA-MB-157 cells transduced with a lacZ control vector, and MDA-MB-157 cells transduced with a lentiviral vector carrying a Wt1 shRNA were sequenced (titled untreated, lacZ and Wt1 respectively).

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Artibani M, Sims AH, Slight J, Aitken S, Thornburn A, Muir M, Brunton VG, Del-Pozo J, Morrison LR, Katz E, Hastie ND, Hohenstein P