Glycoproteomics Identifies Plexin-B3 as a Targetable Cell Surface Protein Required for the Growth and Invasion of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells

J Proteome Res. 2022 Sep 2;21(9):2224-2236. doi: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.2c00332. Epub 2022 Aug 18.

Abstract

Driven by the lack of targeted therapies, triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) have the worst overall survival of all breast cancer subtypes. Considering that cell surface proteins are favorable drug targets and are predominantly glycosylated, glycoproteome profiling has significant potential to facilitate the identification of much-needed drug targets for TNBCs. Here, we performed N-glycoproteomics on six TNBCs and five normal control (NC) cell lines using hydrazide-based enrichment. Quantitative proteomics and integrative data mining led to the discovery of Plexin-B3 (PLXNB3), a previously undescribed TNBC-enriched cell surface protein. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown and CRISPR-Cas9 editing of in vitro and in vivo models show that PLXNB3 is required for TNBC cell line growth, invasion, and migration. Altogether, we provide insights into N-glycoproteome remodeling associated with TNBCs and functional evaluation of an extracted target, which indicate the surface protein PLXNB3 as a potential therapeutic target for TNBCs.

Keywords: CRISPR-Cas9; cell surface targets; glycoproteomics; spheroids; triple-negative breast cancer; xenograft.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Adhesion Molecules
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / genetics
  • Humans
  • Membrane Proteins / genetics
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules
  • Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms* / drug therapy

Substances

  • Cell Adhesion Molecules
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules
  • PLXNB3 protein, human
  • plexin