AXL Is a Driver of Stemness in Normal Mammary Gland and Breast Cancer
Agnete S. T. Engelsen, Katarzyna Wnuk-Lipińska, Sébastien Bougnaud, Fanny A. Pelissier Vatter, Crina Tiron, René Villadsen, Masaru Miyano, Maria L. Lotsberg, Noëlly Madeleine, Pouda Panahandeh, Sushil Dhakal, Tuan Zea Tan, Stacey D’mello Peters, Sturla Magnus Grøndal, Sura Aziz, Silje Nord, Lars Herfindal, Martha R. Stampfer, Thérese Sørlie, Rolf A. Brekken, Oddbjørn Straume, Nils Halberg, Gro Gausdal, Jean Paul Thiery, Lars A. Akslen, Ole W. Petersen, Mark A. LaBarge, James B. Lorens
Abstract
driven mammary tumors. An AXL-dependent gene signature is a feature of transcriptomes in basal breast cancers and reduced patient survival irrespective of subtype. Our interpretation is that AXL regulates access to epithelial plasticity programs in MaSCs and, when co-opted, maintains acquired stemness in breast cancer cells.