Chemotherapy-elicited extracellular vesicle CXCL1 from dying cells promotes triple-negative breast cancer metastasis by activating TAM/PD-L1 signaling

Abstract Background Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer, and chemotherapy still serves as the cornerstone treatment functioning by inducing cytotoxic cell death. Notably, emerging evidence suggests that dying cell-released signals may induce cancer progression and metastasis by modulating the surrounding microenvironment. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms and targeting strategies are yet to be explored. Methods Apoptotic TNBC cells induced by paclitaxel or adriamycin treatment were sorted and their released extracellular vesicles (EV-dead) were isolated from the cell supernatants. Chemokine array analysis was conducted to identify the crucial molecules in EV-dead. Zebrafish and mouse xenograft models were used to investigate the effect of EV-dead on TNBC progression in vivo. Results It was demonstrated that EV-dead were phagocytized by macrophages and induced TNBC metastasis by promoting the infiltration of immunosuppressive PD-L1 + TAMs. Chemokine array identified CXCL1 as a crucial component in EV-dead to activate TAM/PD-L1 signaling. CXCL1 knockdown in EV-dead or macrophage depletion significantly inhibited EV-dead-induced TNBC growth and metastasis. Mechanistic investigations revealed that CXCL1 EV-dead enhanced TAM/PD-L1 signaling by transcriptionally activating EED-mediated PD-L1 promoter activity. More importantly, TPCA-1 (2-(aminocarbonyl) amino-5-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-thiophenecarboxamide) was screened as a promising inhibitor targeting CXCL1 signals in EVs to enhance paclitaxel chemosensitivity and limit TNBC metastasis without noticeable toxicities. Conclusions Our results highlight CXCL1 EV-dead as a novel dying cell-released signal and provide TPCA-1 as a targeting candidate to improve TNBC prognosis. Graphical abstract