Abstract 5283: Characterization of Gli activation by the estrogen receptor in breast cancer cells
Authors: Massah Shabnam , Foo Jane , Li Na , Truong Sarah , Nouri Mannan , Xie Lishi , Prins Gail , Buttyan Ralph , Lallous Nada , Cherkasov Artem 
Published: June 2022

Background: The nuclear steroid receptor superfamily encompasses a group of proteins best known fortheir functions as primary transcription factors that are conditionally active when bound to a ligand.Here, we show that a prominent member of this family, the estrogen receptor [ER-α] have a secondaryfunction of activating the Gli family of transcription factors. Gli is recognized as the mediator of activeHedgehog (Hh) signaling and plays an important role in cell development and growth. Gli activity isregulated by a post-translational proteolytic process that is suppressed by Hedgehog signaling.Previously we found that in prostate cancer, the ligand activated androgen receptor [AR] recognizes andbinds to Gli proteins at their Protein Processing Domains. This binding stabilizes Gli proteins in their un-proteolyzed active form and bypasses the Hedgehog signaling, thus promoting cancer progressionthrough non-canonical activation of Gli proteins. Due to the high similarity between AR and ER, wehypothesized that a similar Gli regulation could play a role in Breast Cancer (BrCA) progression. We thustested the ability of human ER-α to bind and activate Gli in BrCa and evaluated the role of this pathwayin tumor cell growth.

Methods: we measured Gli activity in 293T and BrCa cells (MCF7, T47D, MDA-MB-453) in presence andabsence of steroid ligand using Gli-luciferase reporter assay. We evaluated the interaction between Gli3and ER-α by co-immunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assay and assessed the stability of Gli3stability in BrCa cell extracts by western blots. We also studied the effect of ER-α knockdown ordestabilization (by fulvestrant treatment) on Gli3 stability, formation of intranuclear ER-α-Gli3complexes and Gli reporter activity. We also measured the expression level of Gli target genes in thepresence and absence of estradiol by qPCR in BrCa cells. Lastly, we evaluated the importance of Gli3expression on BrCa growth by Gli3 knockdown and Cyquant assay.

Results: We found that ER co-immunoprecipitates with Gli3. Transfection with ER-α increased Glireporter activity which was further increased by estradiol treatment. Acute (2hr) estradiol treatmentincreased intranuclear ER-α-Gli3 complex formation in BrCa cells. Chronic (48hr) estradiol treatmentincreased Gli3 stability and endogenous activity in BrCa cells. Destabilization or knockdown of ER-αdecreased estradiol-induced formation of ER-α-Gli3 complexes as well as Gli activity and stability in BrCacells. In addition, siRNA knockdown of Gli3 reduced growth in BrCa cells.

Conclusion: Collectively our results uncovered a new role of the steroid receptors ER and AR inregulating Gli oncogenic transcriptional activity in BrCa and PCa, respectively.

Citation Format: Shabnam Massah, Jane Foo, Na Li, Sarah Truong, Mannan Nouri, Lishi Xie, Gail Prins, Ralph Buttyan, Nada Lallous, Artem Cherkasov. Characterization of Gli activation by the estrogen receptor in breast cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 5283.