TY - JOUR TI - PAPOLA contributes to cyclin D1 mRNA alternative polyadenylation and promotes breast cancer cell proliferation AU - Komini, Chrysoula AU - Theohari, Irini AU - Lambrianidou, Andromachi and AU - Nakopoulou, Lydia AU - Trangas, Theoni JO - Journal of Cell Science PY - 2021 VL - 134 TODO - 7 SP - null PB - Company of Biologists Ltd SN - 0021-9533, 1477-9137 TODO - 10.1242/jcs.252304 TODO - Poly(A) polymerase alpha; Cyclin D1; Alternative polyadenylation; Poly(A) tail; Breast cancer TODO - Poly(A) polymerases add the poly(A) tail at the 3 ` end of nearly all eukaryotic mRNA, and are associated with proliferation and cancer. To elucidate the role of the most-studied mammalian poly(A) polymerase, poly(A) polymerase alpha (PAPOLA), in cancer, we assessed its expression in 221 breast cancer samples and found it to correlate strongly with the aggressive triple-negative subtype. Silencing PAPOLA in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells reduced proliferation and anchorage-independent growth by decreasing steady-state cyclin D1 (CCND1) mRNA and protein levels. Whereas the length of the CCND1 mRNA poly(A) tail was not affected, its 3 ` untranslated region (3 ` UTR) lengthened. Overexpressing PAPOLA caused CCND1 mRNA 3 ` UTR shortening with a concomitant increase in the amount of corresponding transcript and protein, resulting in growth arrest in MCF-7 cells and DNA damage in HEK-293 cells. Such overexpression of PAPOLA promoted proliferation in the p53 mutant MDA-MB-231 cells. Our data suggest that PAPOLA is a possible candidate target for the control of tumor growth that is mostly relevant to triple-negative tumors, a group characterized by PAPOLA overexpression and lack of alternative targeted therapies. ER -