Extracellular vesicles induce aggressive phenotype of luminal breast cancer cells by PKM2 phosphorylation

We report that EVs originated from cancer cells can modulate glucose metabolism in the recipient cancer cells and induce cell proliferation and aggressive phenotype. Two breast cancer cell lines with different levels of glycolytic activity, MDA-MB-231 of a claudin low-type breast cancer cell and MCF7 of luminal type breast cancer cell, were selected and co-cultured, as the originating and recipient cells using indirect co-culture system such as transwell system or microfluidic system. Proteomic profiling of the co-cultured MCF7 cells revealed proliferation and dedifferentiation of the MCF7 cells following co-culture with the MDA-MB-231 cells. Transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that glycolysis increased in the co-cultured MCF7 cells, and the component analysis of glycolysis-related genes revealed that the second-most component after cytoplasm was extracellular exosomes. In addition, 36 significant KEGG pathways were identified in a total of 856 proteins identified by proteomin analysis of MDA-MB-231-induced EVs. Among these pathways were the main pathways (glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, pyruvate metabolism, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways) that could explain the metabolic modulation of MCF7 cells. In our work, we indirectly show that it is MDA-MB-231-derived EVs that play an important role in this phenomenon. Our study highlights the potential effects of aggressive cancer cells on other surrounding cancer cells through EVs. Overall design: Glucose metabolism changes in MCF7 cells after co-culture with MDA-MB-231 cells