Integrin-b4 identifies cancer stem cell-enriched populations of partially mesenchymal carcinoma cells

We report the gene expression profiles of normal epithelial and carcinoma cell populations that differ in their relative levels of integrin-beta 4 expression. ITGB4 high, mesenchymal subtype, triple-negative breast cancer cells were found to be more epithelial than related ITGB4 low cells. RNA-seq was used to compare the expression of mesenchymal-like carcinoma cell subtypes isolated from polyclonal cell populations. Isolated cell populations that had high levels of ITGB4 were found to be more epithelial than those with low levels, despite the fact that they were within the mesenchymal-like cell state spectrum.