Project description:RNA-seq was performed on breast cancer cell lines and primary tumors RNA-seq was performed on 28 breast cancer cell lines, 42 Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) primary tumors, and 42 Estrogen Receptor Positive (ER+) and HER2 Negative Breast Cancer primary tumors, 30 uninovlved breast tissue samples that were adjacent to ER+ primary tumors, 5 breast tissue samples from reduction mammoplasty procedures performed on patients with no known cancer, and 21 uninvolved breast tissue samples that were adjacent to TNBC primary tumors.
Project description:Breast cancer cell lines containing the progesterone receptor respond to progestins, altering expression of a subset of genes. In a previously published experiment of inducible knock-down of histone H1 isoforms with an shRNA-expression lentivector (GSE12299), we modified the breast cancer cell line T47D with different vectors. Here, we explored response to progestin R5020 of control cells generated with the empty shRNA-expression vector. Stable breast cancer-derived cell lines containing the empty vector for inducible shRNA expression were grown for two days in the absence of serum. Progestin R5020 or vehicle was added for 6 hours, in duplicate, and RNA was extracted for microarray hybridization.
Project description:Obesity is a known risk factor for breast cancer. To identify genes and underlying pathways in human breast cancer cells affected by interaction with mature adipocytes, two estrogen-receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and T47D, and the triple-negative (TN) breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 were cultivated in a co-culture system with or without differentiated murine 3T3-L1 adipocytes for the purpose of a microarray gene expression analysis. The use of in vitro differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes allowed comparable experimental conditions for each of the co-culture experiments with human breast cancer cell lines. For co-cultivation analyses of 3T3-L1 and breast cancer cells, we set up a two-dimensional transwell system, which enables intercellular communication through soluble factors secreted into the medium but inhibits intermixture of the different cell types. Following 5 days of co-culture with or without differentiated adipocytes, total RNA was isolated from the human breast cancer cells and subjected to microarray gene expression analyses.
Project description:Combined menopausal hormone therapy is associated with increased breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. In our previous studies, progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1) was shown to play a role in progestins’ mode of action, resulting in enhanced proliferation of breast cancer cells. Here we describe a potential mechanism by which PGRMC1 contributes to breast cancer progression via interaction with prohibitins, inhibiting their function as transcription factor repressors, thereby facilitating estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) transcriptional activity and enhancing oncogenic signaling upon treatment with certain progestins, such as norethisterone and dydrogesterone.
Project description:Three human ER+ breast cancer cell lines--MCF-7, T47-D, BT-474--grown with or without estradiol (E2). Keywords: Cell Line Comparison
Project description:Estrogen Receptor alpha (ERα) is a key driver of most breast cancers, and it is the target of endocrine therapies used in the clinic to treat women with ERα positive (ER+) breast cancer. The two methods ChIP-seq (chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with deep sequencing) and RIME (Rapid Immunoprecipitation of Endogenous Proteins) have greatly improved our understanding of ERα function during breast cancer progression and in response to anti-estrogens. A critical component of both ChIP-seq and RIME protocols is the antibody that is used to pull down the bait protein. To date, most of the ChIP-seq and RIME experiments for the study of ERα have been performed using the sc-543 antibody from Santa Cruz Biotechnology. However, this antibody has been discontinued, thereby severely impacting the study of ERα in normal physiology as well as diseases such as breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Here, we compare the sc-543 antibody with other commercially available antibodies, and we show that 06-935 (EMD Millipore) and ab3575 (Abcam) antibodies can successfully replace the sc-543 antibody for ChIP-seq and RIME experiments.
Project description:Hormonal contraception exposes women to different synthetic progesterone receptor (PR) agonists, progestins, and transiently increases breast cancer risk. How progestins affect the breast epithelium is poorly understood because we lack adequate models to study this. We hypothesized that individual progestins differentially affect cell proliferation in the normal breast epithelium and hence breast cancer risk. Using mouse mammary tissue ex vivo, we show that testosterone-related progestins strongly induce the PR target and mediator of PR signaling induced cell proliferation Receptor Activator of NF-κB Ligand (Rankl), previously implicated in breast carcinogenesis, whereas other progestins fail to do so. We developed xenografts of normal human breast epithelial cells (HBECSs) to the milk ducts of immunocompromised female mice and show that they remain hormone-responsive. Using HBECSs from 36 women, we show that testosterone-related progestins, desogestrel, gestodene, and levonorgestrel, induce PSA (KLK3) and promote their proliferation, whereas the anti-androgenic progestins, which have shown anti-androgenic properties in reporter assays, chlormadinone acetate and cyproterone acetate, do not. Pharmacological inhibition of the androgen receptor (AR) inhibits PR agonist and levonorgestrel-induced RANKL expression and both pharmacological and genetic AR inhibition reduce levonorgestrel-driven breast epithelial cell proliferation in vivo. Prolonged exposure to androgenic progestins elicits hyperproliferation with cytologic changes. Thus, different progestins have distinct biological activities in the breast epithelium that should be taken into account for more informed choices in hormonal contraception.
Project description:Hormonal contraception exposes women to different synthetic progesterone receptor (PR) agonists, progestins, and transiently increases breast cancer risk. How progestins affect the breast epithelium is poorly understood because we lack adequate models to study this. We hypothesized that individual progestins differentially affect cell proliferation in the normal breast epithelium and hence breast cancer risk. Using mouse mammary tissue ex vivo, we show that testosterone-related progestins strongly induce the PR target and mediator of PR signaling induced cell proliferation Receptor Activator of NF-κB Ligand (Rankl), previously implicated in breast carcinogenesis, whereas other progestins fail to do so. We developed xenografts of normal human breast epithelial cells (HBECSs) to the milk ducts of immunocompromised female mice and show that they remain hormone-responsive. Using HBECSs from 36 women, we show that testosterone-related progestins, desogestrel, gestodene, and levonorgestrel, induce PSA (KLK3) and promote their proliferation, whereas the anti-androgenic progestins, which have shown anti-androgenic properties in reporter assays, chlormadinone acetate and cyproterone acetate, do not. Pharmacological inhibition of the androgen receptor (AR) inhibits PR agonist and levonorgestrel-induced RANKL expression and both pharmacological and genetic AR inhibition reduce levonorgestrel-driven breast epithelial cell proliferation in vivo. Prolonged exposure to androgenic progestins elicits hyperproliferation with cytologic changes. Thus, different progestins have distinct biological activities in the breast epithelium that should be taken into account for more informed choices in hormonal contraception.