Figure 3.
SLUG is a Regulator of Mammary Epithelial Cell-State Dynamics. Schematic diagrams outlining the various functions of SLUG in mammary epithelial cells. (A) SLUG regulates MEC differentiation. As a transcriptional repressor, SLUG represses transcription of luminal lineage genes and maintains cells in a basal/progenitor-like state. (B) During tissue regeneration following transplantation and tumor initiation, SLUG may be necessary for lineage-restricted cells to de-differentiate into a more primitive, stem-like state. (C) SLUG cooperates with SOX9 to promote the mammary stem cell state. (D) SLUG regulates stochastic cell-state transitions between luminal, basal, and stem cells. Following SLUG knockdown, there are decreased transitions into the basal state and increased transitions into the luminal state. SLUG KD also affects transition into and out of the stem cell state. (E) SLUG promotes the EMT.