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Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(15):4474-4492. doi:10.7150/ijbs.62236 This issue Cite

Research Paper

Co-targeting BET bromodomain BRD4 and RAC1 suppresses growth, stemness and tumorigenesis by disrupting the c-MYC-G9a-FTH1axis and downregulating HDAC1 in molecular subtypes of breast cancer

Amjad Ali1, Jasmin Shafarin1, Hema Unnikannan1, Nour Al-Jabi2, Rola Abu Jabal2, Khuloud Bajbouj1,2, Jibran Sualeh Muhammad1,2, Mawieh Hamad1,3✉

1. Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
2. Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
3. Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

✉ Corresponding author: Mawieh Hamad, Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, and Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, 27272 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Phone: +97165057553, E-mail More

Citation:
Ali A, Shafarin J, Unnikannan H, Al-Jabi N, Jabal RA, Bajbouj K, Muhammad JS, Hamad M. Co-targeting BET bromodomain BRD4 and RAC1 suppresses growth, stemness and tumorigenesis by disrupting the c-MYC-G9a-FTH1axis and downregulating HDAC1 in molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(15):4474-4492. doi:10.7150/ijbs.62236. https://www.ijbs.com/v17p4474.htm
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Abstract

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BET bromodomain BRD4 and RAC1 oncogenes are considered important therapeutic targets for cancer and play key roles in tumorigenesis, survival and metastasis. However, combined inhibition of BRD4-RAC1 signaling pathways in different molecular subtypes of breast cancer including luminal-A, HER-2 positive and triple-negative breast (TNBC) largely remains unknown. Here, we demonstrated a new co-targeting strategy by combined inhibition of BRD4-RAC1 oncogenic signaling in different molecular subtypes of breast cancer in a context-dependent manner. We show that combined treatment of JQ1 (inhibitor of BRD4) and NSC23766 (inhibitor of RAC1) suppresses cell growth, clonogenic potential, cell migration and mammary stem cells expansion and induces autophagy and cellular senescence in molecular subtypes of breast cancer cells. Mechanistically, JQ1/NSC23766 combined treatment disrupts MYC/G9a axis and subsequently enhances FTH1 to exert antitumor effects. Furthermore, combined treatment targets HDAC1/Ac-H3K9 axis, thus suggesting a role of this combination in histone modification and chromatin modeling. C-MYC depletion and co-treatment with vitamin-C sensitizes different molecular subtypes of breast cancer cells to JQ1/NSC23766 combination and further reduces cell growth, cell migration and mammosphere formation. Importantly, co-targeting RAC1-BRD4 suppresses breast tumor growth in vivo using xenograft mouse model. Clinically, RAC1 and BRD4 expression positively correlates in breast cancer patient's samples and show high expression patterns across different molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Both RAC1 and BRD4 proteins predict poor survival in breast cancer patients. Taken together, our results suggest that combined inhibition of BRD4-RAC1 pathways represents a novel and potential therapeutic approach in different molecular subtypes of breast cancer and highlights the importance of co-targeting RAC1-BRD4 signaling in breast tumorigenesis via disruption of C-MYC/G9a/FTH1 axis and down regulation of HDAC1.

Keywords: Breast cancer, BET bromodomain, BRD4, RAC1, c-MYC, FTH1, G9a, HDAC1, JQ1, NSC23766

Citation styles

APA
Ali, A., Shafarin, J., Unnikannan, H., Al-Jabi, N., Jabal, R.A., Bajbouj, K., Muhammad, J.S., Hamad, M. (2021). Co-targeting BET bromodomain BRD4 and RAC1 suppresses growth, stemness and tumorigenesis by disrupting the c-MYC-G9a-FTH1axis and downregulating HDAC1 in molecular subtypes of breast cancer. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 17(15), 4474-4492. https://doi.org/10.7150/ijbs.62236.

ACS
Ali, A.; Shafarin, J.; Unnikannan, H.; Al-Jabi, N.; Jabal, R.A.; Bajbouj, K.; Muhammad, J.S.; Hamad, M. Co-targeting BET bromodomain BRD4 and RAC1 suppresses growth, stemness and tumorigenesis by disrupting the c-MYC-G9a-FTH1axis and downregulating HDAC1 in molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Int. J. Biol. Sci. 2021, 17 (15), 4474-4492. DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.62236.

NLM
Ali A, Shafarin J, Unnikannan H, Al-Jabi N, Jabal RA, Bajbouj K, Muhammad JS, Hamad M. Co-targeting BET bromodomain BRD4 and RAC1 suppresses growth, stemness and tumorigenesis by disrupting the c-MYC-G9a-FTH1axis and downregulating HDAC1 in molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(15):4474-4492. doi:10.7150/ijbs.62236. https://www.ijbs.com/v17p4474.htm

CSE
Ali A, Shafarin J, Unnikannan H, Al-Jabi N, Jabal RA, Bajbouj K, Muhammad JS, Hamad M. 2021. Co-targeting BET bromodomain BRD4 and RAC1 suppresses growth, stemness and tumorigenesis by disrupting the c-MYC-G9a-FTH1axis and downregulating HDAC1 in molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Int J Biol Sci. 17(15):4474-4492.

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