Elevated GRHL2 imparts plasticity in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer cells [RNA-seq]

Estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer is characterized by a late recurrence following initial treatment. The epithelial cell fate transcription factor Grainyhead-like protein 2 (GRHL2) is amplified in ER positive breast cancers and is indicative of poorer prognosis as compared to ER negative breast cancer. To understand how GRHL2 contributes to progression, GRHL2 was overexpressed in ER positive cells. To examine gene expression changes from elevated GRHL2 levels, RNA-sequencing was performed to better comprehend how high GRHL2 may change its transcriptional activity. To investigate the long-term effects of elevated GRHL2, a tetracycline-inducible cell line capable of expressing GRHL2-GFP upon exposure to doxycycline hyclate (Dox) was treated with 1 μg/mL for 72 hours, with media changes every 24 hours. A Biosciences FACSAria™Cell Sorter was used to sort Dox treated cells for GFP expression. Control cells without Dox treatment remain unsorted. All samples included were analyzed with 5 biological replicates. RNA sequencing was performed by AZENTA Life Sciences Next Generation Sequencing. Gene expression profiling analyses were conducted using RNA-seq data.