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Clinically relevant morphological structures in breast cancer represent transcriptionally distinct tumor cell populations with varied degrees of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and CD44+CD24- stemness.

ABSTRACT: Intratumor morphological heterogeneity in breast cancer is represented by different morphological structures (tubular, alveolar, solid, trabecular, and discrete) and contributes to poor prognosis; however, the mechanisms involved remain unclear. In this study, we performed 3D imaging, laser microdissection-assisted array comparative genomic hybridization and gene expression microarray analysis of different morphological structures and examined their association with the standard immunohistochemistry scorings and CD44+CD24- cancer stem cells. We found that the intratumor morphological heterogeneity is not associated with chromosomal aberrations. By contrast, morphological structures were characterized by specific gene expression profiles and signaling pathways and significantly differed in progesterone receptor and Ki-67 expression. Most importantly, we observed significant differences between structures in the number of expressed genes of the epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes and the association with cancer invasion pathways. Tubular (tube-shaped) and alveolar (spheroid-shaped) structures were transcriptionally similar and demonstrated co-expression of epithelial and mesenchymal markers. Solid (large shapeless) structures retained epithelial features but demonstrated an increase in mesenchymal traits and collective cell migration hallmarks. Mesenchymal genes and cancer invasion pathways, as well as Ki-67 expression, were enriched in trabecular (one/two rows of tumor cells) and discrete groups (single cells and/or arrangements of 2-5 cells). Surprisingly, the number of CD44+CD24- cells was found to be the lowest in discrete groups and the highest in alveolar and solid structures. Overall, our findings indicate the association of intratumor morphological heterogeneity in breast cancer with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and CD44+CD24- stemness and the appeal of this heterogeneity as a model for the study of cancer invasion.

SUBMITTER: Denisov EV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5617414 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Clinically relevant morphological structures in breast cancer represent transcriptionally distinct tumor cell populations with varied degrees of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and CD44<sup>+</sup>CD24<sup>-</sup> stemness.

Denisov Evgeny V EV Skryabin Nikolay A NA Gerashchenko Tatiana S TS Tashireva Lubov A LA Wilhelm Jochen J Buldakov Mikhail A MA Sleptcov Aleksei A AA Lebedev Igor N IN Vtorushin Sergey V SV Zavyalova Marina V MV Cherdyntseva Nadezhda V NV Perelmuter Vladimir M VM

Oncotarget 20170519 37

Intratumor morphological heterogeneity in breast cancer is represented by different morphological structures (tubular, alveolar, solid, trabecular, and discrete) and contributes to poor prognosis; however, the mechanisms involved remain unclear. In this study, we performed 3D imaging, laser microdissection-assisted array comparative genomic hybridization and gene expression microarray analysis of different morphological structures and examined their association with the standard immunohistochemi ...[more]

PMID: 28977854

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Project description:IntroductionHuman breast tumors are heterogeneous and consist of phenotypically diverse cells. Breast cancer cells with a CD44+/CD24- phenotype have been suggested to have tumor-initiating properties with stem cell-like and invasive features, although it is unclear whether their presence within a tumor has clinical implications. There is also a large heterogeneity between tumors, illustrated by reproducible stratification into various subtypes based on gene expression profiles or histopathological features. We have explored the prevalence of cells with different CD44/CD24 phenotypes within breast cancer subtypes.MethodsDouble-staining immunohistochemistry was used to quantify CD44 and CD24 expression in 240 human breast tumors for which information on other tumor markers and clinical characteristics was available. Gene expression data were also accessible for a cohort of the material.ResultsA considerable heterogeneity in CD44 and CD24 expression was seen both between and within tumors. A complete lack of both proteins was evident in 35% of the tumors, while 13% contained cells of more than one of the CD44+/CD24-, CD44-/CD24+ and CD44+/CD24+ phenotypes. CD44+/CD24- cells were detected in 31% of the tumors, ranging in proportion from only a few to close to 100% of tumor cells. The CD44+/CD24- phenotype was most common in the basal-like subgroup--characterized as negative for the estrogen and progesterone receptors as well as for HER2, and as positive for cytokeratin 5/14 and/or epidermal growth factor receptor, and particularly common in BRCA1 hereditary tumors, of which 94% contained CD44+/CD24- cells. The CD44+/CD24- phenotype was surprisingly scarce in HER2+ tumors, which had a predominantly CD24+ status. A CD44+/CD24- gene expression signature was generated, which included CD44 and alpha6-integrin (CD49f) among the top-ranked overexpressed genes.ConclusionWe demonstrate an association between basal-like and particularly BRCA1 hereditary breast cancer and the presence of CD44+/CD24- cells. Not all basal-like tumors and very few HER2+ tumors, however, contain CD44+/CD24- cells, emphasizing that a putative tumorigenic ability may not be confined to cells of this phenotype and that other breast cancer stem cell markers remain to be identified.

Project description:Tumorigenic breast cancer cells characterized by CD44 expression and low or undetectable CD24 levels (CD44+/CD24-/low) may be resistant to chemotherapy and therefore responsible for cancer relapse. Paired breast cancer core biopsies before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy or lapatinib were obtained and as single cell suspensions stained using antibodies against CD24, CD44, and lineage markers, and then analyzed by flow cytometry. Mammosphere (MS) formation in culture was compared before and after treatment. Global gene expression differences between cancer cells bearing CD44+/CD24-/low cells and all other sorted cells, and between cancer MS and the primary bulk invasive cancers were analyzed. We report that CD44+/CD24-/low tumorigenic breast cancer cells were intrinsically chemoresistant ─ chemotherapy led to increased CD44+/CD24-/low cells, increased self-renewal capacity on MS assays, and enhanced tumorigeneicity in immunocompromised SCID/Beige mice. Conversely, in patients with HER2 overexpressing tumors, the EGFR/HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, lapatinib decreased CD44+/CD24-/low cells, with the majority of these patients after conventional therapy achieving pathologic complete response, a validated surrogate marker for long-term survival. Gene transcription pathways that underlie chemoresistant, MS-forming CD44+/CD24-/low cells involve genes belonging to stem cell self-renewal, Wnt signaling, and early development pathways. Experiment Overall Design: Human breast tumor samples were sorted using flow cytometry to select for cells that were CD44+ and CD24-. Gene expression profiles of these cells were compared with profiles of the other sorted cells (CD24+ and CD44-/CD24-). Experiment Overall Design: Core biopsies of primary breast tumors were taken and placed immediately in cold RPMI-1640 supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated newborn calf serum (HINCS, Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). Within an hour, the samples were minced and then digested in 10-15 mL of MEGM with 250-300 units/mL collagenase at 370C. The samples were filtered, washed, and then subjected to hypotonic shock to lyse red blood cells. About 106 single cells were re-suspended, incubated for 15 min at 40C with anti-CD44 (APC), anti-CD24 (FITC), and anti-lineage cocktail antibodies (PE-conjugated anti-CD2, CD3, CD10, CD16, CD18, CD31 and CD 140B) (Pharmingen, San Diego, CA) using the manufacturer’s suggested concentrations. The cells were then washed twice, re-suspended with the viability dye propidium iodide, and analyzed using Dako MoFlo flow cytometry. Side- and forward- scatter were used to eliminate debris and cell doublets, and the Lin- cells were further analyzed by CD44 and CD24 markers.

Dataset Information

Clinically relevant morphological structures in breast cancer represent transcriptionally distinct tumor cell populations with varied degrees of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and CD44+CD24- stemness.

Publications

Clinically relevant morphological structures in breast cancer represent transcriptionally distinct tumor cell populations with varied degrees of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and CD44<sup>+</sup>CD24<sup>-</sup> stemness.

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