STAT5A-mediated NOX5-L expression promotes the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cells

•The ROS-generating protein, NOX5-L, determines cellular proliferation and metastasis in subset of breast tumor.•Tumor growth was attenuated by the treatment of anti-NOX5-L antibody in a xenograft model.•NOX5-L expression is transcriptionally regulated by STAT5A in breast cancer cells.

NADPH oxidase (NOX) generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) and has been suggested to mediate cell proliferation in some cancers. Here, we show that an increase in the expression of NOX5 long form (NOX5-L) is critical for tumor progression in breast tumor tissues. Immunostaining of clinical samples indicated that NOX5 was overexpressed in 41.1% of breast ductal carcinoma samples. NOX5-L depletion consistently suppressed cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in vitro. Antibody-mediated neutralization of NOX5-L attenuated tumor progression in a mouse xenograft model. Promoter analysis revealed that NOX5-L expression is regulated by STAT5A in breast cancer cells. Based on our novel findings, we suggest that inhibition of NOX5-L may be a promising therapeutic strategy that exerts anti-cancer effects via the modulation of ROS-mediated cell signaling.