Abstract PO4-24-06: The function of GATA3-PARP1 complex in breast cancer during GATA3-mediated cellular reprogramming
Authors: Cooper Mikhala , Takaku Motoki 
Published: May 2024

In eukaryotic cells, genomic DNA is packaged into chromatin, a complex of DNA, histones, and other proteins. Chromatin acts as a physical barrier for many transcription factors, preventing them from efficiently binding to their recognition sequences within the nucleosome. Pioneer factors are a class of transcription factors that bind to nucleosomes and activate silent chromatin. Pioneer factors are frequently involved in various immune cell pathways, tissue development, and homeostasis, thereby, underscoring their important roles in development and disease. Previous research found that pioneer factors have at least three fundamental properties:

However, the molecular mechanisms of pioneer factor-mediated cellular reprogramming (mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET)) are largely unknown. For this study, I will use GATA3-mediated MET to study the pioneer factor-mediated cellular reprogramming.

GATA3 is a transcription factor that plays a pivotal role in mammary gland development, luminal epithelial differentiation, and cellular reprogramming. Additionally, it has been implicated in various cellular processes such as proliferation, migration, and invasion and is a critical regulator in breast cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). In TNBC, GATA3 expression is often downregulated, correlating with poor prognosis. Our lab and others have shown that GATA3 functions as a pioneer factor that actively changes the chromatin state from closed to open. In luminal breast cancer cells, ER-alpha and FOXA1 are well-known GATA3 co-factors. In mesenchymal breast cancer cells, GATA3 can suppress tumor metastasis by inducing MET in the absence of well-known GATA3 co-factors FOXA1 and ER-alpha1. These findings suggest that GATA3 works with additional, unknown co-factors during MET. We have been studying how GATA3 activates silent chromatin. More than 7 million GATA3 motifs exist in the human genome, yet the experimental data from GATA3 ChIP-seq analysis indicates less than 1% of the motifs are occupied by the pioneer factor, GATA3. In addition to binding selectivity, we have shown that the pioneer factor action is site-specific (context-dependent) and only induces chromatin opening and enhancer formation at a subset of binding sites. To identify a novel co-factor that is involved in GATA3-mediated MET, we performed a rapid immunoprecipitation mass spectrometry of endogenous proteins (RIME) assay, which identified the chromatin-modification enzyme, Poly ADP-ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1), as a potential GATA3 co-factor. PARP1 is essential for gene expression regulation and initiating DNA repair. Previous studies have shown PARP1 as a co-factor to the pioneer factor, SOX2. Our genomics data strongly suggest that PARP1 is involved in such context-dependent action of GATA3.

Our overall goal is to investigate GATA3-PARP1 interaction during MET to understand the role of pioneer factors in cellular reprogramming. To do so, we are dissecting the GATA2-PARP1 function in two distinct steps:

Citation Format: Mikhala Cooper, Motoki Takaku. The function of GATA3-PARP1 complex in breast cancer during GATA3-mediated cellular reprogramming [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO4-24-06.