EZH2 represses mesenchymal genes and upholds epithelial identity in breast cancer cells

Emerging studies support that the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) regulates phenotypic changes of cancer cells by modulating their shifts among metastable states within the epithelial and mesenchymal spectrum. This new role of PRC2 in cancer has been recently proposed to stem from the ability of its catalytic subunit EZH2 to bind and modulate the transcription of a large set of mesenchymal genes during epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in lung cancer cells. Here, we asked whether this mechanism is conserved across different types of carcinomas. By combining TGF-ß-mediate reversible induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transition and pharmacological inhibition of EZH2 activity we demonstrate that EZH2 represses a large set of mesenchymal genes and favours the residence of breast cancer cells towards the more epithelial spectrum during EMT in breast cancer cells. Overall design: mRNA analysis of breast cancer adenocarcinoma cells treated with EZH2 chemical inhibitors. In addition, MCF-7 cells were exposed to TGF-ß-mediate reversible induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transition in the presence or absence of EZH2 inhibitor