Abstract B15: Semaphorin 7a exerts pleiotropic effects to promote breast tumor progression

Abstract

Abstract Understanding what drives breast tumor progression is of utmost importance for blocking tumor metastasis. We have identified that semaphorin 7a is a potent driver of breast tumor progression. Semaphorin 7a is a GPI membrane anchored protein that promotes attachment and spreading in multiple cell types. We observe that increased expression of SEMA7A occurs in ~45%human breast cancers and its upregulation is associated with decreased overall and distant metastasis free survival. In both in vitro and in vivo models, shRNA mediated silencing reveals roles for semaphorin 7a in the promotion of breast cancer cell growth, motility, and invasion as well as in lymphangiogenesis. Our studies also uncover a relationship between COX-2 and semaphorin 7a expression, and suggest that semaphorin 7a promotes tumor cell invasion on collagen and lymphangiogenesis via activation of β1-integrin receptor. Our results suggest that semaphorin 7a, may be novel target for blocking breast tumor progression. Citation Format: Sarah Black, Andrew Nelson, Natalia Gurule, Bernard Futscher, Traci R. Lyons. Semaphorin 7a exerts pleiotropic effects to promote breast tumor progression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Breast Cancer Research; Oct 17-20, 2015; Bellevue, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2016;14(2_Suppl):Abstract nr B15.