ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Genet.
Sec. Cancer Genetics and Oncogenomics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1687066
This article is part of the Research TopicTargeted Cancer Therapy Through Metabolic PathwaysView all articles
CELF1 promotes aerobic glycolysis and aggressive phenotype in ER-positive breast cancer via GLUT1 regulation
Provisionally accepted
- 1Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China
- 2Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Breast cancers are renowned for their distinct genetic characteristics. However, the specific involvement of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) in breast cancer progression has not been fully understood. In this context, we have identified a cohort of luminal A subtype breast cancer-specific genes regulated by CUGBP Elav-like family member 1 (CELF1) through random forest analysis. Exploring the genetic landscape of the 1337 recognized RBPs in diverse types of cancer, CELF1 emerged with a unique prognostic value in luminal subtype breast cancer. Comprehensive transcriptomic paired with loss-of-function experiments in cell cultures, animal models, and histopathological examinations of clinical tissue samples, disclosed modulating the levels of CELF1, resulted in changes to glycolytic-related genes and key enzymes, leading to the reversal or enhancement of the malignant characteristics of breast cancer cells. Our systems approach unveiled CELF1 promotes aerobic glycolysis in luminal A subtype breast cancer cells by modulating the expression of GLUT1. Notably, both CELF1 and GLUT1 demonstrated their role as induced genes in luminal A subtype breast cancer and unfavorable markers affecting the survival outcome of patients. These findings highlight new dimensions of CELF1's function in luminal A subtype breast cancer, showcasing cancer-type-specific roles of RBPs.
Keywords: RBPs, CELF1, breast cancer, GLUT1, Glycolysis
Received: 16 Aug 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Wang, Bi, Guo, Xu and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Gena Huang, huanggena@dmu.edu.cn
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.