Abstract
Considerable evidence suggests that as breast cancer progresses, genetic and epigenetic mechanisms contribute to the emergence of self-renewing cells (CSC), which may also arise as a consequence of metastasis. Although the molecular pathways that trigger stemness and metastasis are known, key molecular and mechanistic gaps in our understanding of these processes remain unclear. Here, we first screened the inflammation-associated stemness gene phosphodiesterase 3A (PDE3A) using a medium-throughput siRNA library, which was overexpressed in breast tumors and significantly correlated with clinical progression. PDE3A induced the inflammatory nuclear factor NFκB signaling pathway by suppressing cAMP/PKA, which promotes the expression of the stem cell marker OCT4. In addition, PDE3A also promoted the translocation of CCDC88A from the cytoplasm to nuclei, thereby boosting the invasion-metastasis cascade in breast cancer. Most importantly, the PDE3A-selective inhibitor cilostazol dramatically suppressed breast tumor growth and reduced metastasis to the lungs in xenograft breast cancer models, with minimum toxicity. Taken together, we show that PDE3A could predispose patients with breast cancer to metastases by acting as a mediator of cancer stemness. PDE3A is a potential therapeutic target for advanced breast cancer.