Metastasis suppressor 1 acts as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in triple-negative breast cancer

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the function of metastasis suppressor 1 (MTSS1) in triple negative breast Cancer (TNBC).

Methods: MTSS1 expression in 30 TNBC and paracancerous tissues was measured by quantitative Reverse Transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The prognostic value of MTSS1 was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis followed by the log-rank test. MCF7 cells were transfected with si-MTSS1, while MDA-MB-231 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1-MTSS1. Cell proliferation assay and transwell assay were performed to investigate the effects of MTSS1 on the biological behavior of breast Cancer cells. Immunofluorescence and western blot were used to detect the influence of MTSS1 on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers.

Results: MTSS1 expression was significantly lower in TNBC tissues compared with that in paracancerous tissues (0.012 vs. 0.370; P = 0.006). A lower MTSS1 expression level was also found in tumor tissues of patients with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.002) or tumor node metastasis stage (P = 0.010). Patients with low expression of MTSS1 (⩽ 0.009) had shorter disease-free survival (47.4 vs. 56.0 months; P = 0.012). The knockdown of MTSS1 in MCF7 cells inhibited cell proliferation, enhanced cell migration and invasion capacities, decreased the E-cadherin level, and increased the vimentin level, whereas overexpression of MTSS1 in MDA-MB-231 cells had the opposite effects (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that MTSS1 regulates proliferation, invasion, migration, and EMT in TNBC, and that decreased MTSS1 is associated with shorter disease-free survival.