Jolly, Mohit KumarPreca, Bogdan-TiberiusTripathi, Satyendra C.Jia, DongyaGeorge, Jason T.Hanash, Samir M.Brabletz, ThomasStemmler, Marc P.Maurer, JochenLevine, Herbert2019-01-182019-01-182018Jolly, Mohit Kumar, Preca, Bogdan-Tiberius, Tripathi, Satyendra C., et al.. "Interconnected feedback loops among ESRP1, HAS2, and CD44 regulate epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in cancer." <i>APL Bioengineering,</i> 2, no. 3 (2018) AIP Publishing LLC: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5024874.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105114Aberrant activation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in carcinoma cells contributes to increased migration and invasion, metastasis, drug resistance, and tumor-initiating capacity. EMT is not always a binary process; rather, cells may exhibit a hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal (E/M) phenotype. ZEB1—a key transcription factor driving EMT—can both induce and maintain a mesenchymal phenotype. Recent studies have identified two novel autocrine feedback loops utilizing epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1 (ESRP1), hyaluronic acid synthase 2 (HAS2), and CD44 which maintain high levels of ZEB1. However, how the crosstalk between these feedback loops alters the dynamics of epithelial-hybrid-mesenchymal transition remains elusive. Here, using an integrated theoretical-experimental framework, we identify that these feedback loops can enable cells to stably maintain a hybrid E/M phenotype. Moreover, computational analysis identifies the regulation of ESRP1 as a crucial node, a prediction that is validated by experiments showing that knockdown of ESRP1 in stable hybrid E/M H1975 cells drives EMT. Finally, in multiple breast cancer datasets, high levels of ESRP1, ESRP1/HAS2, and ESRP1/ZEB1 correlate with poor prognosis, supporting the relevance of ZEB1/ESRP1 and ZEB1/HAS2 axes in tumor progression. Together, our results unravel how these interconnected feedback loops act in concert to regulate ZEB1 levels and to drive the dynamics of epithelial-hybrid-mesenchymal transition.engAll article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1063/1.5024874