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Surface marker identification to capture live circulating tumor cells in metastatic triple negative breast cancer

ABSTRACT: Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is highly aggressive and lacks targeted therapies. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are invaluable for monitoring metastatic tumor progression and treatment response but are difficult to capture due to their rarity and heterogeneity. Surface-based staining for live CTCs is essential to preserve RNA quality in single cells, but current markers tend to perform poorly on more mesenchymal tumor cells such as TNBCs. To enhance live TNBC CTC detection, we developed a workflow for live CTC capture and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq). Using a mouse model of metastatic TNBC, we identified four new CTC surface markers, AHNAK2, CAVIN1, ODR4, and TRIML2, that specifically stain tumor cells. Combining antibodies against these markers improved CTC detection rates in multiple TNBC mouse models and patient samples. Also, combining these new markers with traditional CTC surface markers enhanced detection sensitivity, achieving the highest CTC coverage. This approach identifies diverse CTC populations, while preserving RNA quality for scRNAseq, which is essential for understanding and therapeutically targeting metastatic breast cancer.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE295462 | GEO | 2025/12/20

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Cancer cells metastasize through the bloodstream either as single migratory circulating tumor cells (CTCs) or as multicellular groupings (CTC-clusters). Existing technologies for CTC enrichment are designed primarily to isolate single CTCs, and while CTC-clusters are detectable in some cases, their true prevalence and significance remain to be determined. Here, we developed a microchip technology (Cluster-Chip) specifically designed to capture CTC-clusters independent of tumor-specific markers from unprocessed blood. CTC-clusters are isolated through specialized bifurcating traps under low shear-stress conditions that preserve their integrity and even two-cell clusters are captured efficiently. Highly parallel architecture of the chip allows deterministic screening of clinically relevant volumes of blood samples at slow, and hence, non-damaging flow rates. Using the Cluster-Chip, we identify CTC-clusters in 30-40% of patients with metastatic cancers of the breast, prostate and melanoma. RNA sequencing of CTC-clusters confirms their tumor origin and identifies leukocytes within the clusters as being tissue-derived macrophages. Together, the development of a device for efficient capture of CTC-clusters will enable detailed characterization of their biological properties and role in cancer metastasis. We used the Cluster-Chip to capture CTC-clusters from the blood of a breast cancer patient with high CTC counts, released CTC-clusters in solution, stained them with TexasRed-conjugated antibodies against the leukocyte cell surface markers CD45, CD14 and CD16, and then isolated intact CTC-clusters individually using a micromanipulator. From a single time point, we retrieved 15 CTC-clusters, and each of those clusters was individually subjected to RNA-sequencing analysis using a next generation platform (SOLiD 5500). In addition, two leukocytes were isolated from the blood of a healthy donor were individually subjected to RNA-sequencing analysis using the same platform.

Project description:Melanoma is an invasive malignancy with a high frequency of blood-borne metastases, but circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have not been readily isolated. We adapted microfluidic CTC capture to a tamoxifen-driven B-RAF/PTEN mouse melanoma model. CTCs were detected in all tumor-bearing mice, rapidly declining after B-RAF inhibitor treatment. CTCs were shed early from localized tumors and a short course of B-RAF inhibition following surgical resection was sufficient to dramatically suppress distant metastases. The large number of CTCs in melanoma-bearing mice enabled comparison of RNA sequencing profiles with the matched primary tumor. A mouse melanoma CTC-derived signature correlated with invasiveness and cellular motility in human melanoma. In patients with metastatic melanoma, CTCs were detected in smaller numbers in patients with metastatic melanoma and declined with successful B-RAF targeted therapy. Together, the capture of CTCs and their molecular characterization provide insight into the hematogenous spread of melanoma. We adapted a microfluidic platform, the HbCTC-Chip (Stott et al., 2010, Pubmed ID: 20930119), to capture melanoma CTCs derived from mouse tumors, using panels of antibodies against melanoma-specific cell surface markers, followed by staining for melanoma antigens and optimized on-chip fluorescent imaging. We used a tamoxifen inducible BRAF(CA/+)/PTEN(flox/flox) melanoma mouse model (Dankort et al., 2009, Pubmed ID: 19282848) derived from a C57BL/6 background. Such mice received focal subcutaneous injection of tamoxifen (Sigma) (50ul at 5mg/ml in 50% EtOH suspension) at the left flank at 6-7 weeks after birth. Blood samples were collected from five mice with high tumor burden following tamoxifen injection. Blood from each mouse was split and processed through the CTC-chips functionalized with anti-CSPG4/MCAM antibody and control IgGs, respectively. Matched primary (from the tamoxifen injection site) and metastatic (from upper or lower back) tumors were harvested from the same mouse and immediately flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen. RNA extraction, single molecular sequencing and determination of Digital Gene Expression was as in Yu et al., 2012 (Pubmed ID: 22763454). One of the five mice yielded no CTC or IgG data. In addition, skin was taken from a sixth mouse, which was a complete wild type C57BL/6 mouse (without the BRAF/PTEN transgenes).The skin was taken after euthanasia of the animal and was processed as the tissue from the matched primary and metastatic tumors.

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Surface marker identification to capture live circulating tumor cells in metastatic triple negative breast cancer

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