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Elucidating the gene expression profiles of human mammary subpopulations

ABSTRACT: The organisation of the mammary epithelial cell hierarchy and how these cells relate to the presentation of human breast tumours is poorly understood. Our results demonstrate that the luminal cell compartment of the mouse mammary gland can be resolved into terminally differentiated oestrogen receptor (ER)+ luminal cells, ER+ luminal progenitors and ER- luminal progenitors. The ER+ luminal progenitors are unique in regards to cell survival, as they are relatively insensitive to loss of oestrogen and progesterone when compared to the other types of mammary epithelial cells. Analysis of normal human breast tissue reveals a similar hierarchical organisation that is composed of terminally differentiated luminal cells and relatively differentiated (EpCAM+CD49f+ALDH-) and undifferentiated (EpCAM+CD49f+ALDH+) luminal progenitors. In addition, approximately one third of human breast samples examined contained an additional population that had a luminal progenitor phenotype, but is characterised by low expression of ERBB3 and low proliferative potential. Parent-progeny relationship experiments demonstrated that all luminal progenitor populations in both species are highly plastic and, at low frequencies, can generate progeny representing all mammary cell types. Gene expression profiling demonstrates that the ER- luminal progenitors in the mouse and the undifferentiated ALDH+ luminal progenitors in the human have gene signatures that resemble those obtained from basal-like breast tumours. Overall, our work reveals a more defined mammary cell hierarchy, which may in turn provide greater insight into the aetiology of breast cancer. Normal human breast tissues from reduction mammoplasties were dissociated into single cells and the epithelial cell populations were flow sorted. Total RNA was extracted for each group in 11 independent patient samples.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Russell Roslin

PROVIDER: S-ECPF-GEOD-35399 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Similar to human breast cancer mammary tumors of the female dog are commonly associated with a fatal outcome due to the development of distant metastases. However, the molecular defects leading to metastasis are largely unknown and the value of canine mammary carcinoma as a model for human breast cancer is unclear. In this study, we analyzed the gene expression signatures associated with mammary tumor metastasis and asked for parallels with the human equivalent. METHODS: Messenger RNA expression profiles of twenty-seven lymph node metastasis positive or negative canine mammary carcinomas were established by microarray analysis. Differentially expressed genes were functionally characterized and associated with molecular pathways. The findings were also correlated with published data on human breast cancer. RESULTS: Metastatic canine mammary carcinomas had 1,011 significantly differentially expressed genes when compared to non-metastatic carcinomas. Metastatic carcinomas had a significant up-regulation of genes associated with cell cycle regulation, matrix modulation, protein folding and proteasomal degradation whereas cell differentiation genes, growth factor pathway genes and regulators of actin organization were significantly down-regulated. Interestingly, 265 of the 1,011 differentially expressed canine genes are also related to human breast cancer and, vice versa, parts of a human prognostic gene signature were identified in the expression profiles of the metastatic canine tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Metastatic canine mammary carcinomas can be discriminated from non-metastatic carcinomas by their gene expression profiles. More than one third of the differentially expressed genes are also described of relevance for human breast cancer. Many of the differentially expressed genes are linked to functions and pathways which appear to be relevant for the induction and maintenance of metastatic progression and may represent new therapeutic targets. Furthermore, dogs are in some aspects suitable as a translational model for human breast tumors in order to identify prognostic molecular signatures and potential therapeutic targets.

Project description:Medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. The aim of our study was to understand which mechanisms are involved in aberrant activation of Wnt pathway and its association with MB tumor development. We studied the expression profiles of 19 MBs tumors using a genome-wide approach, furthermore we have included the data obtained from four independent public Datasets of gene expression (see README file below) to increase the statistical power of the study. The expression profiles identified the Wnt inhibitor gene, DKK3, significant down-regulated. DKK3 down-regulation was confirmed by qPCR in 80% of samples (27/33 MB tumors and in 3/5 MB human cell lines). Since DKK3 was found methylated in several cancers we also investigated the status of methylated CpG sites within the three promoters by a combination of two approaches: the MSP and pyrosequencing. MSP showed no methylation in all promoters while the pyrosequencing, a quantitative technique, indicated a very low level of methylation. To verify the epigenetic involvement on DKK3 silencing, we also studied the effect of Trichostatin A (TSA) in 4 MB cell lines (DAOY; D283; D425; D458). After TSA treatment we observed a significant DKK3 mRNA expression increase in 3/4 cell lines compared to the no treated cells. DAOY cells, that have a normal DKK3 expression value, did not change significantly the DKK3 expression after TSA treatment. To further validate the role of histone tail modifications as an epigenetic silencing mechanism for DKK3 in MB, we performed Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiment using antibodies against acetylated histones. According to our earlier results, TSA treatment increased the signal of the histone modification meH3K4 which is related to a transcriptionally active gene respect to the untreated controls. Finally, we evaluated the DKK3 protein in three MB cell lines (DAOY; D283; D425) after 24h of TSA treatment, by immunofluorescence. We analysed 19 Medulloblastoma tumor from pediatric patients, a commercial pool (Clontech) of 24 normal cerebellum from female and male Caucasians (ages: 16-70 years; cause of death: sudden death) and a pool of 10 normal cerebellum from children (6 Caucasians and 4 African Americans; ages: 0-16 years; cause of death: sudden death) using 44K whole genome oligonucleotids microarray

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Elucidating the gene expression profiles of human mammary subpopulations

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