Abstract 1705: 3D growth modulates the competition between STAT3 and STAT5 in breast cancer
Authors: Temple Alexandra Elizabeth , Walker Sarah R. 
Published: March 2024

Approximately 13% of women are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) is a transcription factor that is often inappropriately activated in breast cancer and is frequently associated with Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). STAT5 can also be activated and inappropriate activation of STAT5 alone or with STAT3 is generally correlated with a more favorable prognosis, a lower grade tumor, and a better response to therapies compared to inappropriate activation of STAT3 alone. Therefore, knowing the activation status of STAT5 and understanding how STAT5 activation can attenuate STAT3-driven breast cancers could help guide therapeutic choices and patient treatment. STAT3 and STAT5 can regulate a set of overlapping target genes. For example, STAT3 and STAT5 can regulate BCL6 expression, where STAT5 represses expression and STAT3 enhances it. Importantly, STAT5 outcompetes and preferentially binds in the presence of activated STAT3. This suggests that the overlapping target genes could play an important role in understanding how activation of STAT5 can lead to a more favorable breast cancer compared to activation of STAT3 alone. This previous work was conducted in a 2D cell culture model; however, 3D models can better mimic clinical settings and the use of 3D models can help bridge the gap. Therefore, understanding the relationship between STAT3 and STAT5 in 3D is important. SK-BR-3 cells (HER2+ cells with low basal STAT3 activity) and MDA-MB-231 cells (TNBC cells with constitutive STAT3 activity) are being compared between 2D cell culture and 3D media suspension. We have shown using chromatin immunoprecipitation that STAT3 DNA-binding is enhanced in 3D at certain binding sites, whereas STAT5 is not. STAT5 has reduced dominance and preferential binding over STAT3 for BCL6 in 3D compared to 2D. In other cases, STAT3 binding is decreased upon STAT5 activation in 3D but not 2D. To begin to understand these differences, we analyzed phosphorylation of these STATs in 2D and 3D. Phospho-STAT3 levels were similar between 2D and 3D in SK-BR-3 cells when activated with LIF stimulation but were higher in 3D in the MDA-MB-231 cells which contain constitutive STAT3 activity. STAT5 activation by prolactin stimulation did not directly affect STAT3 phosphorylation in 2D or 3D but does affect STAT3 binding in 3D growing cells. However, prolactin induced phospho-STAT5 seems to be reduced in 3D in both cell lines. We are currently analyzing additional binding sites to better define the differences between STAT3 and STAT5 mediated gene regulation in 2D and 3D since STAT phosphorylation does not fully address it. Overall, our data suggests that differences between 2D and 3D breast cancer models will be important for translation to patient tumors and understanding the relationship between STAT3 and STAT5 will help elucidate how STAT5 activation status can be used when treating patients with breast cancer.

Citation Format: Alexandra Elizabeth Temple, Sarah R. Walker. 3D growth modulates the competition between STAT3 and STAT5 in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1705.