Salinomycin induces expression of ER and Golgi apparatus related genes in EMT cell model

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) gives rise to cells with properties similar to cancer stem cells (CSCs) that drive tumor metastasis. Recently, a screening of a large compound library on a breast EMT model has identified salinomycin, a K+/H+ ionophore, as a highly selective drug towards CSCs. We used the same EMT model to show that salinomycin targets Golgi apparatus. We have performed RNA-seq analysis on HMLE-Twist and HMLE-pBp cells (EMT and non-EMT) that were either mock treated or treated for 24h with micro molar concentration (0.2uM) of salinomycin. Salinomycin induced expression of genes enriched by known ER and Golgi stressors. Overall design: Total RNA from biological triplicates from mock and salinomycin treated HMLE-Twist and HMLE-pBp cells was extracted (12 biological samples in total). Library was prepared with TrueSeq Stranded mRNA kit (Illumina) from 750 ng of RNA. Library was sequenced on a NextSeq500 using High output flow-cell in pair-end mode (75+75 cycles). Raw data yielded total over 920 million high-quality reads (Q30 > 75%).