Fibronectin rescues estrogen receptor α from lysosomal degradation in breast cancer cells
- Sampayo, Rocío Guadalupe
- Toscani, Andrés Martin
- Rubashkin, Matthew G.
- Thi, Kate
- Masullo, Luciano Andrés
- Violi, Ianina Lucila
- Lakins, Jonathon N.
- Caceres, Alfredo Oscar
- Hines, William C.
- Coluccio Leskow, Federico
- Stefani, Fernando Daniel
- Chialvo, Dante Renato
- Bissell, Mina J.
- Weaver, Valerie M.
- Simian, Marina
DOIAbstract
Estrogen receptor α (ERα) is expressed in tissues as diverse as brains and mammary glands. In breast cancer, ERα is a key regulator of tumor progression. Therefore, understanding what activates ERα is critical for cancer treatment in particular and cell biology in general. Using biochemical approaches and superresolution microscopy, we show that estrogen drives membrane ERα into endosomes in breast cancer cells and that its fate is determined by the presence of fibronectin (FN) in the extracellular matrix; it is trafficked to lysosomes in the absence of FN and avoids the lysosomal compartment in its presence. In this context, FN prolongs ERα half-life and strengthens its transcriptional activity. We show that ERα is associated with β1-integ...