AUTHOR=Tellez-Gabriel Marta , Tekpli Xavier , Reine Trine M. , Hegge Beate , Nielsen Stephanie R. , Chen Meng , Moi Line , Normann Lisa Svartdal , Busund Lill-Tove R. , Calin George A. , Mælandsmo Gunhild M. , Perander Maria , Theocharis Achilleas D. , Kolset Svein O. , Knutsen Erik TITLE=Serglycin Is Involved in TGF-β Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Is Highly Expressed by Immune Cells in Breast Cancer Tissue JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2022.868868 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2022.868868 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=

Serglycin is a proteoglycan highly expressed by immune cells, in which its functions are linked to storage, secretion, transport, and protection of chemokines, proteases, histamine, growth factors, and other bioactive molecules. In recent years, it has been demonstrated that serglycin is also expressed by several other cell types, such as endothelial cells, muscle cells, and multiple types of cancer cells. Here, we show that serglycin expression is upregulated in transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Functional studies provide evidence that serglycin plays an important role in the regulation of the transition between the epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes, and it is a significant EMT marker gene. We further find that serglycin is more expressed by breast cancer cell lines with a mesenchymal phenotype as well as the basal-like subtype of breast cancers. By examining immune staining and single cell sequencing data of breast cancer tissue, we show that serglycin is highly expressed by infiltrating immune cells in breast tumor tissue.