TEM8 marks neovasculogenic tumor-initiating cells in triple-negative breast cancer

Abstract Enhanced neovasculogenesis, especially vasculogenic mimicry (VM), contributes to the development of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Breast tumor-initiating cells (BTICs) are involved in forming VM; however, the specific VM-forming BTIC population and the regulatory mechanisms remain undefined. We find that tumor endothelial marker 8 (TEM8) is abundantly expressed in TNBC and serves as a marker for VM-forming BTICs. Mechanistically, TEM8 increases active RhoC level and induces ROCK1-mediated phosphorylation of SMAD5, in a cascade essential for promoting stemness and VM capacity of breast cancer cells. ASB10, an estrogen receptor ERα trans-activated E3 ligase, ubiquitylates TEM8 for degradation, and its deficiency in TNBC resulted in a high homeostatic level of TEM8. In this work, we identify TEM8 as a functional marker for VM-forming BTICs in TNBC, providing a target for the development of effective therapies against TNBC targeting both BTIC self-renewal and neovasculogenesis simultaneously.