New insights into the role of TWIST1 in breast cancer progression and metastasis

IF 6.5 2区医学 Q1 BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY

Mutation Research-Reviews in Mutation Research Pub Date : 2026-07-01 Epub Date: 2026-09-21 DOI:10.1016/j.mrrev.2026.108606

Kamel A. Saleh, Renuka Jyothi S, Priya Priyadarshini Nayak, Laith Saheb, Amaal Mohammed Ali, Vimal Arora, Ashish Singh Chauhan, Gunjan Garg, Saeed Niazi Vahdati

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The transcription factor TWIST1 plays a fundamental role in the regulation of breast cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, and resistance to treatment. As a prominent driver of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), TWIST1 promotes phenotypic plasticity in cancer cells, enabling enhanced invasion, migration, and metastatic colonization. In addition, TWIST1 supports the maintenance of cancer stem cell (CSC) traits, which contribute to intratumoral heterogeneity and the likelihood of tumor relapse. Abnormal activation of TWIST1 stimulates stemness-related programs through the regulation of essential signaling pathways and stem cell markers, thereby functionally linking EMT with mechanisms of self-renewal and therapeutic resistance. The regulation of TWIST1 is highly complex and occurs at multiple levels, including epigenetic control, non-coding RNA-mediated regulation, transcriptional modulation, and post-translational modifications. Interactions with major oncogenic signaling cascades and signals originating from the tumor microenvironment further enhance its contribution to cancer progression. Increasing clinical evidence indicates that elevated TWIST1 expression is associated with poor clinical outcomes, higher metastatic burden, and reduced treatment efficacy, emphasizing its importance as a prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in breast cancer management.

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TWIST1在乳腺癌进展和转移中的作用的新见解。

转录因子TWIST1在乳腺癌的发生、发展、转移和治疗耐药的调控中起着重要作用。作为上皮-间质转化（EMT）的重要驱动因子，TWIST1促进癌细胞的表型可塑性，增强癌细胞的侵袭、迁移和转移定植。此外，TWIST1支持肿瘤干细胞（CSC）特征的维持，这些特征有助于肿瘤内异质性和肿瘤复发的可能性。TWIST1的异常激活通过调节重要的信号通路和干细胞标记物来刺激干细胞相关程序，从而在功能上将EMT与自我更新和治疗抵抗机制联系起来。TWIST1的调控非常复杂，涉及多个层面，包括表观遗传控制、非编码rna介导的调控、转录调控和翻译后修饰。与主要的致癌信号级联和源自肿瘤微环境的信号的相互作用进一步增强了其对癌症进展的贡献。越来越多的临床证据表明，TWIST1表达升高与不良的临床结果、更高的转移负担和降低的治疗效果相关，强调了它作为预后生物标志物和乳腺癌治疗中潜在的治疗靶点的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Mutation Research-Reviews in Mutation Research 生物-毒理学

CiteScore

12.20

自引率

1.90%

发文量

审稿时长

15.7 weeks

期刊介绍： The subject areas of Reviews in Mutation Research encompass the entire spectrum of the science of mutation research and its applications, with particular emphasis on the relationship between mutation and disease. Thus this section will cover advances in human genome research (including evolving technologies for mutation detection and functional genomics) with applications in clinical genetics, gene therapy and health risk assessment for environmental agents of concern.