HOX proteins define a family of key transcription factors regulating animal embryogenesis. HOX genes have also been linked to oncogenesis and HOXA1 has been described to be active in several cancers, including breast cancer. Through a proteome-wide interaction screening, we previously identified the TNFR-associated proteins RBCK1/HOIL-1 and TRAF2 as HOXA1 interactors suggesting that HOXA1 is functionally linked to the TNF/NF-κB signaling pathway. Here, we reveal a strong positive correlation between expression of HOXA1 and of members of the TNF/NF-κB pathway in breast tumor datasets. Functionally, we demonstrate that HOXA1 can activate NF-κB and operates upstream of the NF-κB inhibitor IκB. Consistently, we next demonstrate that the HOXA1-mediated activation of NF-κB is non-transcriptional and that RBCK1 and TRAF2 influences on NF-κB are epistatic to HOXA1. We also identify an 11 Histidine repeat and the homeodomain of HOXA1 to be required both for RBCK1 and TRAF2 interaction and NF-κB stimulation. Finally, we highlight that activation of NF-κB is crucial for HOXA1 oncogenic activity.
Hoxa1 belongs to the Hox family of homeodomain transcription factors involved in patterning embryonic territories and governing organogenetic processes. In addition to its developmental functions, Hoxa1 has been shown to be an oncogene and to be overexpressed in the mammary gland in response to a deregulation of the autocrine growth hormone. It has therefore been suggested that Hoxa1 plays a pivotal role in the process linking autocrine growth hormone misregulation and mammary carcinogenesis. Like most Hox proteins, Hoxa1 can interact with Pbx proteins. This interaction relies on a Hox hexapeptidic sequence centred on conserved Tryptophan and Methionine residues. To address the importance of the Hox-Pbx interaction for the oncogenic activity of Hoxa1, we characterized here the properties of a Hoxa1 variant with substituted residues in the hexapeptide and demonstrate that the Hoxa1 mutant lost its ability to stimulate cell proliferation, anchorage-independent cell growth, and loss of contact inhibition. Therefore, the hexapeptide motif of Hoxa1 is required to confer its oncogenic activity, supporting the view that this activity relies on the ability of Hoxa1 to interact with Pbx.
Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and the leading cause of female cancer mortality worldwide. About 70% of breast cancers express ERα. HOX proteins are master regulators of embryo development which have emerged as being important players in oncogenesis. HOXA1 is one of them. Here, we present bioinformatic analyses of genome-wide mRNA expression profiles available in large public datasets of human breast cancer samples. We reveal an extremely strong opposite correlation between HOXA1 versus ER expression and that of 2,486 genes, thereby supporting a functional antagonism between HOXA1 and ERα. We also demonstrate in vitro that HOXA1 can inhibit ERα activity. This inhibition is at least bimodal, requiring an intact HOXA1 DNA-binding homeodomain and involving the DNA-binding independent capacity of HOXA1 to activate NF-κB. We provide evidence that the HOXA1-PBX interaction known to be critical for the transcriptional activity of HOXA1 is not involved in the ERα inhibition. Finally, we reveal that HOXA1 and ERα can physically interact but that this interaction is not essential for the HOXA1-mediated inhibition of ERα. Like other HOX oncoproteins interacting with ERα, HOXA1 could be involved in endocrine therapy resistance.
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