Overexpression of SERPINA3 promotes tumor invasion and migration, epithelial-mesenchymal-transition in triple-negative breast cancer cells

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have indicated that serpin peptidase inhibitor, clade A, member 3 (SERPINA3) is a potential marker associated with tumor progression, which connoted that SERPINA3 is related to malignant phenotypes in cancer. However, the biological function of SERPINA3 in breast cancer (BC) remains unclear. METHODS: Bioinformatics data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. Immunohistochemical staining (IHC) was conducted to determine SERPINA3 expression. With strong aggressive abilities, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines (MDA-MB-231, BT549 and MDA-MB-436) were obtained to examine SERPINA3 expression and functions. Wound healing and Transwell assays were performed to measure cell migration and invasion. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was conducted to detect cell proliferation abilities and cell viabilities. RESULTS: SERPINA3 was upregulated in BC tissues. Functional assays suggested that overexpression of SERPINA3 significantly promoted cell proliferation, where migration and invasion of TNBC cells were accelerated. Knockdown of SERPINA3 had the opposite effects. These results causing by overexpression of SERPINA3 were also confirmed in non-TNBC cell lines. Overexpression of SERPINA3 remarkably enhanced the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) by upregulating the EMT markers and EZH2. In addition, the overexpression of SERPINA3 reduced the sensitivity of TNBC cells to cisplatin. CONCLUSION: SERPINA3 can regulate the migration, invasion and EMT of TNBC cells and increased expression of SERPINA3 confers resistance to cisplatin in TNBC cells. We discern it is required for the regulation of BC progression and is a critical target for the clinical treatment of BC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12282-021-01221-4.