Anne-Marie N. Fortier

Oct 23, 2024 | nature.com | Alexandre Poirier |Anne-Marie N. Fortier |Nancy Lin |Morag Park |Michel Tremblay |Rinath Jeselsohn

AbstractRecurrent breast cancers often develop resistance to standard-of-care therapies. Identifying targetable factors contributing to cancer recurrence remains the rate-limiting step in improving long-term outcomes. In this study, we identify tumor cell-derived osteopontin as an autocrine and paracrine driver of tumor recurrence. Osteopontin promotes tumor cell proliferation, recruits macrophages, and synergizes with IL-4 to further polarize them into a pro-tumorigenic state.

Jun 7, 2024 | nature.com | Antoine Khalil |Daan A. Smits |Thijs Koorman |Mathijs Verhagen |Daan Visser |Anne-Marie N. Fortier | +5 more

AbstractDense and aligned Collagen I fibers are associated with collective cancer invasion led by protrusive tumor cells, leader cells. In some breast tumors, a population of cancer cells (basal-like cells) maintain several epithelial characteristics and express the myoepithelial/basal cell marker Keratin 14 (K14). Emergence of leader cells and K14 expression are regarded as interconnected events triggered by Collagen I, however the underlying mechanisms remain unknown.