Gene expression in organized and disorganized human breast epithelial cells

We have reported more than a dozen microenvironmental factors whose signaling must be integrated in order to effect an organized, functional tissue morphology. In order to identify underlying commonalities in gene transcription associated with the phenotype, we compared the gene expression of organized and disorganized epithelial cells of the HMT-3522 breast cancer progression series: the non-malignant S1 cells that form polarized spheres (‘acini’), the malignant T4-2 cells that form large tumor-like clusters, and the ‘phenotypically reverted’ T4-2 cells that polarize as a result of correction of the microenvironmental signaling. 24 samples were analyzed: 5 samples were non-malignant S1 cells that formed organized spherical structures ('acini'), 5 samples were the isogenic malignant counterpart of S1 cells, namely the T4-2 cells, which grow into disorganized large cell clusters; and 14 samples of T4-2 cells that had been treated with different reverting agents, these reverting agents cause the T4-2 cells to 'revert' in phenotype so that they resemble the structures formed by S1 cells.