An oestrogen-dependent model of breast cancer created by transformation of normal human mammary epithelial cells.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

About 70% of breast cancers express oestrogen receptor alpha (ESR1/ERalpha) and are oestrogen-dependent for growth. In contrast with the highly proliferative nature of ERalpha-positive tumour cells, ERalpha-positive cells in normal breast tissue rarely proliferate. Because ERalpha expression is rapidly lost when normal human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) are grown in vitro, breast cancer models derived from HMECs are ERalpha-negative. Currently only tumour cell lines are available to model ERalpha-positive disease. To create an ERalpha-positive breast cancer model, we have forced normal HMECs derived from reduction mammoplasty tissue to express ERalpha in combination with other relevant breast cancer genes.

Methods

Candidate genes were selected based on breas

SUBMITTER: Duss S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1929103 | biostudies-literature | 2007

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature