Delta/notch-like epidermal growth factor-related receptor promotes stemness to facilitate breast cancer progression

DNER, Delta/Notch-like epidermal growth factor (EGF)-related receptor, is a neuron-specific transmembrane protein carrying extracellular EGF-like repeats. The function of DNER in breast cancer has not been evaluated. The present study demonstrates that the expression of DNER in breast cancer tissue is significantly higher than its expression in breast benign disease and is associated with poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) of breast cancer patients. It demonstrated that DNER could enhance the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cells in vitro and significantly increases tumor growth in vivo. Our study uncovered that DNER can promote breast cancer cells proliferation and metastasis by activating Girdin/PI3K/AKT signaling and subsequently regulating several key genes involving the characters of cancer stem cells. Taken together, DNER promotes breast cancer growth and metastasis, which provided a theoretical basis for future applications of DNER inhibitors in the treatment of breast cancer.