GATA3 is a master regulator that drives mammary epithelial cell differentiation, and the suppression of GATA3 expression is associated with the development of aggressive breast cancer. However, the mechanism through which GATA3 loss drives cancer development is poorly understood. Previously, we reported that ELK3 suppression in MDA-MB-231 (ELK3 KD) resulted in the reprogramming of these cells from a basal to luminal subtype, which was associated with the induction of GATA3 expression, and that the ELK3-GATA3 axis orchestrated the metastatic characteristics of MDA-MB-231. Here, we show that GATA3 suppression in ELK3 knockdown MDA-MB-231 cells (ELK3/GATA3 DKD) restores the metastatic ability comparably to that of control MDA-MB-231 cells, even though the epithelial cell morphology and TGF-β signaling of ELK3 KD are not recovered in ELK3/GATA3 DKD. The expression of E-cadherin and tight junctional proteins, including occludin, claudin and ZO-1, which is activated in ELK3 KD, is suppressed in ELK3/GATA3 DKD. These results reveal the possibility that the ELK3-GATA3 axis determines the metastatic characteristics of MDA-MB-231 by regulating the expression of cell-cell adhesion factors.

Tumor-induced lymphangiogenesis, a major conduit for cancer cell dissemination from the primary tumor site to lymph nodes and beyond, eventually leads to metastasis in cancer patients. Given the recent evidence revealing that the suppression of ELK3 inhibits the metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer cells, we aimed to study the underlying mechanism of impaired metastasis in ELK3-suppressed MDA-MB-231 cells (ELK3 KD) with regard to lymphangiogenesis. We found that the secretome of ELK3 KD cells inhibited tube formation, whereas it promoted the migration and invasion of lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) in vitro. In vivo analysis revealed that peritumoral lymphatic vessels were not developed around the xenografted tumors of ELK3 KD. We further revealed that the suppression of NF-κB signaling in ELK3 KD was the primary cause of the reduced VEGFC expression. Taken together, we suggest that ELK3 is an upstream regulator of the NF-κB signaling pathway, the inhibition of which leads to the suppression of peritumoral lymphatic vessel development, possibly due to a low VEGFC expression.

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) catalyzes the conversion of L-tyrosine to 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine, which is the first and rate-limiting step in catecholamine biosynthesis. In the present study, we report that treatment with the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, trichostatin A (TSA) or sodium butyrate, prominently induces the TH promoter activity in both non-neuronal and neuronal cell lines. By analyzing a series of deletional reporter constructs, we also determined that the proximal 151bp region of the TH promoter is largely responsible for TSA-mediated activation. Finally, we found that mutation of the Sp1 or CRE site, residing in the proximal area, abolishes TSA-mediated activation, strongly suggesting that the Sp1 and CRE sites may mediate TH promoter activation by inhibition of HDAC. In summary, our results provide a novel regulatory frame in which modulation of chromatin structure by histone deacetylase may contribute to transcriptional regulation of the TH via the Sp1 and/or CRE site.