This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
A Preclinical Model for ERα-Positive Breast Cancer Points to the Epithelial Microenvironment as Determinant of Luminal Phenotype and Hormone Response.
Specimen part
View SamplesA high percentage of potential oncology drugs fail in clinical trials, partly because preclinical models used to test them are inadequate. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women worldwide but we lack appropriate in vivo models for the ER+ subtypes, which represent more than 75% of all cases. We address these issues by xenografting tumor cells to their site of origin, the milk ducts. All ER+ cell lines and patient-derived xenografts grow mimicking their clinical counterparts. Disease progresses with invasion and metastasis, which become amenable to study. The action of hormones, important in breast carcinogenesis, can now be studied in a relevant context. Importantly, these open opportunities for development and evaluation of therapies.
A Preclinical Model for ERα-Positive Breast Cancer Points to the Epithelial Microenvironment as Determinant of Luminal Phenotype and Hormone Response.
Specimen part
View SamplesA high percentage of potential oncology drugs fail in clinical trials, partly because preclinical models used to test them are inadequate. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women worldwide but we lack appropriate in vivo models for the ER+ subtypes, which represent more than 75% of all cases. We address these issues by xenografting tumor cells to their site of origin, the milk ducts. All ER+ cell lines and patient-derived xenografts grow mimicking their clinical counterparts. Disease progresses with invasion and metastasis, which become amenable to study. The action of hormones, important in breast carcinogenesis, can now be studied in a relevant context. Importantly, these open opportunities for development and evaluation of therapies.
A Preclinical Model for ERα-Positive Breast Cancer Points to the Epithelial Microenvironment as Determinant of Luminal Phenotype and Hormone Response.
Specimen part
View SamplesEstrogens and progesterone control mammary gland development and breast carcinogenesis via their cognate receptors expressed in a subset of cells of the luminal layer of the mammary epithelium. The extracellular matrix (ECM) including the basement membrane (BM) is important in breast physiology and tumorigenesis but how epithelial hormone receptor signaling and ECM are linked mechanistically is unclear. We identify the secreted protease Adamts18 as critical intermediary. Luminal estrogen and progesterone receptor signaling via upregulation of Wnt4 expression and ensuing canonical Wnt signaling activation in basal cells control Adamts18 expression there. The protease has an epithelial-intrinsic role in stem cell activation. We identify multiple binding partners in the interstitial ECM and BM and show that ADAMTS18 cleaves fibronectin in vitro. Its deletion results in increased fibronectin, collagen I and IV, and laminin deposition in pubertal glands. Adamts18 interacts genetically with Col18a1, which encodes a proteoglycan that is BM-specific, in stem cell regulation. Adamts18 inactivation impairs Hippo signaling and reduces Fgfr2 expression and signaling, which are vital for stem cell function. Our findings link epithelial hormone signaling to BM remodeling by Adamts18, and define the BM as an essential stem cell niche component.
The secreted protease Adamts18 links hormone action to activation of the mammary stem cell niche.
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View SamplesHeme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is expressed in many cancers and influences the growth, survivall and metastasis of tumors, however, the molecular mechanisms remains largely unknown. To identify a common mechanism of action of HO-1 in cancer, we studied the global effect of HO-1 on the transcriptome of multiple tumors. Genome-wide expression profiling of HO-1 expressing versus HO-1 silenced cancer cells and a further data mining analysis of the preexisting expression database of 190 human tumors of 14 cancer types led us to identify 14 genes, the expression of which correlated firmly and universally with that of HO-1 (P < 0.001). These genes included regulators of cell plasticity and extracellular matrix remodeling (MMP2, ADAM8, TGF1, BGN, COL21A1, PXDN), signaling (CRIP2, MICB), amino acid transport and glycosylation (SLC7A1 and ST3GAL2), estrogen and phospholipid biosynthesis (AGPAT2 and HSD17B1), protein stabilization (IFI30) and phosphorylation (ALPPL2). PXDN, one of the genes being co-expressed with HO-1, was selected for further analysis. Immunofluorescence and western blotting confirmed positive correlation of PXDN with HO-1 levels in BeWo cancer cells as well as co-localization in invasive extravillous trophoblast cells of first trimester placenta. Loss of HO-1 in BeWo cells correlated with reduced cell adhesion to Collagen type I, Fibronectin and Laminin. The adhesion-promoting effects of HO-1 were dependent on PXDN expression, as loss of PXDN in HO-1 expressing BeWo cells led to reduced cell attachment to Laminin and Fibronectin coated wells.
Transcriptome analysis of human cancer reveals a functional role of heme oxygenase-1 in tumor cell adhesion.
Specimen part
View SamplesGene expression profiles generated from human tumor cells laser-microdissected from surgical samples of seven choroid plexus papillomas (Grade I WHO) as eight samples of epithelial cells lasermicrodissected from normal choroid plexus obtained at autopsy.
TWIST-1 is overexpressed in neoplastic choroid plexus epithelial cells and promotes proliferation and invasion.
Sex, Age
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