THE ONCOGENIC TGLI1 TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR IS A NOVEL MEDIATOR OF BREAST CANCER BRAIN METASTASIS

Abstract

Breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM) occurs in approximately 10-30% of patients with metastatic breast cancer resulting in a median survival of only 6-18 months. This poor survival rate is primarily due to our limited understanding of BCBM biology. The aim of this study is to gain a further understanding of pathways driving BCBM with a key focus on the truncated glioma-associated oncogene homolog 1 (tGLI1, TGLI1) transcription factor discovered in our lab. We have shown that tGLI1 expression is tumor-specific and that it is a gain-of-function GLI1 transcription factor. GLI1 is a zinc-finger transcription factor and the nuclear effector of the sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway, playing an important role in development and stem cell self-renewal.