Gpr125 is a unifying hallmark of multiple mammary progenitors coupled to tumor latency

• Published in: Nature communications 2022-03, Vol.13 (1), p.1421-1421, Article 1421
• Main Authors: Spina, Elena, Simundza, Julia, Incassati, Angela, Chandramouli, Anupama, Kugler, Matthias C., Lin, Ziyan, Khodadadi-Jamayran, Alireza, Watson, Christine J., Cowin, Pamela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13/1; 13/100; 13/31; 13/51; 14/19; 14/34; 14/63; 38/77; 38/91; 49/22; 49/88; 49/90; 49/91; 631/532/2436; 631/67/1347; 631/80/79; 64/110; 64/60; Animals; Axon guidance; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - genetics; Breast Neoplasms - metabolism; Cell adhesion; Cell Movement; Chemokines; Female; G protein-coupled receptors; Growth factors; Homology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Invasiveness; Latency; Mammary Glands, Animal - metabolism; Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental - pathology; Markers; Mesenchyme; Morphogenesis; multidisciplinary; Phenotypes; Polarity; Progenitor cells; Risk factors; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Stem cells; Stem Cells - metabolism; Tips; Transcriptomics; Transplantation; Tumors
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28937-x

Gpr125 is an orphan G-protein coupled receptor, with homology to cell adhesion and axonal guidance factors, that is implicated in planar polarity and control of cell movements. By lineage tracing we demonstrate that Gpr125 is a highly specific marker of bipotent mammary stem cells in the embryo and of multiple long-lived unipotent basal mammary progenitors in perinatal and postnatal glands. Nipple-proximal Gpr125+ cells express a transcriptomic profile indicative of chemo-repulsion and cell movement, whereas Gpr125+ cells concentrated at invasive ductal tips display a hybrid epithelial-mesenchymal phenotype and are equipped to bind chemokine and growth factors and secrete a promigratory matrix. Gpr125 progenitors acquire bipotency in the context of transplantation and cancer and are greatly expanded and massed at the pushing margins of short latency MMTV-Wnt1 tumors. High Gpr125 expression identifies patients with particularly poor outcome within the basal breast cancer subtype highlighting its potential utility as a factor to stratify risk. Gpr125 has emerged as a specific marker of mammary stem cells and basal progenitors. Here they show that Gpr125 cells congregate at ductal tips during morphogenesis and amass at tumor margins, and that high Gpr125 predicts early tumor onset and poor outcome in basal breast cancer.