NSDHL promotes triple-negative breast cancer metastasis through the TGFβ signaling pathway and cholesterol biosynthesis

Purpose Metastasis is the main cause of breast cancer mortality. Recent studies have proved that lipid metabolic reprogramming plays critical roles in breast cancer carcinogenesis and metastasis. We aim to identify critical lipid metabolism genes in breast cancer metastasis. Methods We designed and cloned a CRISPR pooled library containing lipid metabolic gene guide RNAs and performed a genetic screen in vivo. Transwell assay and animal experiments were used to evaluate cell metastatic ability in vitro or in vivo, respectively. We performed immunohistochemistry with breast cancer tissue microarray to study the clinical significance of NSDHL. Findings We identified a cholesterol metabolic enzyme, NSDHL, as a potential metastatic driver in triple-negative breast cancer. NSDHL was highly expressed in breast cancer tissues and predicted a poor prognosis. NSDHL knockdown significantly suppressed cell proliferation and migration. Mechanistically, NSDHL activated the TGF beta signaling pathway by inhibiting the endosomal degradation of TGF beta R2. In addition, blocking the upstream metabolism of NSDHL with ketoconazole rescued cancer metastasis and TGF beta R2 degradation. However, the inactivation of NSDHL (Y151X) did not rescue the migration ability and the TGF beta R2 protein expression. Conclusion Taken together, our findings established that NSDHL serves as a metastatic driver, and its function depends on its enzyme activity in cholesterol biosynthesis and is mediated by the NSDHL-TGF beta R2 signal pathway. Our study indicated that NSDHL and steroid biosynthesis may serve as new drug targets for patients with advanced breast cancer.