Abstract
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are key drivers of metastasis and therapy resistance but have been challenging to visualize and study in situ . Using a fluorescent CSC reporter, we observed very different population dynamics for CSCs and nonCSCs during metastatic lung colonization in breast cancer models. CSC expansive self-renewal drives early lesion formation before switching to a maintenance mode of balanced self-renewal and differentiation, whereupon nonCSC proliferation takes over as the main driver of metastatic expansion. Mechanistic analyses showed that CSCs are hyper-responsive to microenvironmental cues such as cell crowding and nutrient availability, suggesting a novel role for CSCs as sensors and early responders to fluctuating local conditions in the tumor. Incoming signals converge on YAP/TAZ/TEAD, with heightened CSC sensitivity and response supported by elevated receptor expression and increased chromatin accessibility around enhancers with TEAD binding sites. Targeting inputs to the YAP/TAZ/TEAD node reversed chemotherapy-induced enrichment of CSCs in lung metastases.
Highlights
Different population dynamics for breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) and their differentiated progeny in early metastatic colonization
CSCs are hyper-responsive to microenvironmental cues and serve as sensors of local conditions for the tumor
Many microenvironmental inputs converge on YAP/TAZ to regulate self-renewal vs differentiation fate decisions in the CSC
Targeting YAP/TAZ input pathways blocks chemotherapy-induced enrichment of CSCs
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