Gene expression changes in Mammary Luminal Progenitor cells after MEN1 silencing

Female patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 are at increased risk to develop breast cancer. We analyzed gene expression after silencing of the MEN1 gene in primary human mammary luminal progenitor cells to identify menin target genes involved in mammary tumorigenesis. Mammary luminal progenitor cells were isolated from patient-derived normal breast tissue after tissue digestion and FACS-sorting using anitibodies directed at CD49f+ and EpCAM. After harvesting and cell sorting, cells were treated with lentiviral particles containing small hairpin RNA constructs directed against MEN1 or a control sequence and subjected to puromycin selection. Total RNA from these cells was subjected to gene expression analysis using Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST Arrays. Clusters of up and down regulated genes were identified.