Brain-metastatic triple-negative breast cancer cells regain growth ability by altering gene expression patterns.

BACKGROUD/AIM: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) frequently metastasizes to the brain (BrM). However, genes responsible for BrM of TNBC are yet to be identified. Gene expression profiling of TNBC and BrM was conducted, and studies with cultured cells in vitro were performed to verify functions of genes identified in these analyses. According to gene expression analyses of TNBC and BrM, periplakin (PPL) and mitogen-activated protein kinase 13 (MAPK13) were chosen for further investigations. PPL and MAPK13 were highly expressed in TNBC compared to BrM. While silencing of either PPL or MAPK13 in TNBC cells increased cell growth and reduced cell motility, overexpression of either PPL or MAPK13 in BrM cells, retarded growth rates and facilitated cell motility. Gene expression patterns in TNBC and BrM reflect cancer cell growth in regions of metastasis.