Study of gene targets regulated by oncogenic PIK3CA and/or Her2

Mutant PIK3CA and Her2 genes are oncogenic and their co-existence in breast cancer has been well identified. However, the gene targets and cell signalling pathway regulated by mutant PIK3CA, Her2 and both of PIK3CA and Her2 have not been well studied. We established stable cell models through transfecting mutant PIK3CA, Her2 and both mutant PIK3CA and Her2 into MCF10A cells and performed Affymetrix microarray to identify downstream target genes controlled by either mutant PIK3CA, Her2 or both PIK3CA and Her2. RNA was extracted from 4 cell models (MCF10A/LacZ, MCF10A/Her2, MCF10A/mutant PIK3CA, and MCF10A/Her2+mutant PIK3CA) and purified using the RNeasy plus miniKit. Affymetrix microarray was performed and downstream target genes controlled by either mutant PIK3CA, Her2 or both PIK3CA and Her2 were identified. We also analyzed the cell signaling pathways enrichment.