TNFRSF19 promotes endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced paraptosis via the activation of the MAPK pathway in triple-negative breast cancer cells.

Abstract

TNFRSF19 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, and its function exhibits variability among different types of cancers. The influence of TNFRSF19 on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has yet to be definitively established. In this study, bioinformatics analyses revealed that lower TNFRSF19 was associated with the poorer prognosis, higher lymph node metastasis and lower immune infiltration. Subsequently, data obtained from the TCGA database and collection of tissue samples revealed that the mRNA and protein expression levels of TNFRSF19 were observed to be significantly reduced in TNBC tissue compared to normal tissue. Additionally, the results of in vitro experiments have demonstrated that TNFRSF19 possessed the ability to inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasive capabilities of TNBC cells. In vivo trials elucidated that TNFRSF19 could suppress tumor xenografts growth. Mechanistically, TNFRSF19 initiated caspase-independent cell death and induced paraptosis. Moreover, rescue assays demonstrated that TNFRSF19 induced-paraptosis was facilitated by MAPK pathway-mediated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that the upregulation of TNFRSF19 functioned as a tumor suppressor in TNBC by stimulating paraptosis through the activation of the MAPK pathway-mediated ER stress, highlighting its potential to be a new therapeutic target for TNBC.