Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: Semaphorin-7a (SEMA7A), best known as a neuroimmune molecule, plays a diverse role in many cellular processes and pathologies. Here, we show that SEMA7A promotes anoikis resistance in cultured mammary epithelial cells through integrins and activation of pro-survival kinase AKT, which led us to investigate a role for SEMA7A during postpartum mammary gland involution-a normal developmental process where cells die by anoikis. Our results reveal that SEMA7A is expressed on live mammary epithelial cells during involution, that SEMA7A expression is primarily observed in α6-integrin expressing cells, and that luminal progenitor cells, specifically, are decreased in mammary glands of SEMA7A-/- mice during involution. We further identify a SEMA7A-α6/β1-integrin dependent mechanism of mammosphere formation and chemoresistance in mammary epithelial cells and suggest that this mechanism is relevant for recurrence in breast cancer patients.
Source: Cell Death and Disease
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,170
Awards: G1359604825, G138639151, G1565180698, G1913669728, G2585752093, G3015188539, G3497269628, G3631065570, G539282579, G5395228407, G6499305708, Deciphering COX-2/SEMA7A dependent mechanisms of breast tumor progression., G8655310605, G9000071037, G9000137873, G9000220573, University of Colorado Cancer Center Support Grant, G9001225491, G955892510
OpenAlex ID: W3200717426