MSC-induced lncRNA expression changes in breast cancer cells. MSC-induced lncRNA expression changes in breast cancer cells

The development of triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) – a subset of tumors with particularly aggressive pathogenesis – is critically regulated by certain tumor-microenvironment-associated cells called mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), which we and others have shown promote TNBC progression by activating a multitude of signaling nodes that propagate malignant traits in neighboring cancer cells. Characterization of these signaling cascades will better our understanding of TNBC biology, and stands to bring about novel therapeutics that can eliminate the morbidity and mortality associated with advanced disease. Here, we particularly focused on an emerging family of non-coding RNAs – called long non-coding RNAs or lncRNAs – and utilized a MSC-supported TNBC progression model to identify specific lncRNAs of functional relevance to TNBC pathogenesis. We used Affymetrix arrays to identify the gene expression changes that breast cancer cells (in this case, MDA-MB-231 cells) exhibit as they interact with admixed human MSCs Overall design: Green fluorescent protein (GFP) -labeled MDA-MB-231 cells were admixed with human MSCs (at 1:3 ratio of cancer cells to MSCs) and cultured in complete media consisting of DMEM, 10%FBS, and Pen/Strep. After 3 days, cultures were trypsinized, filtered through 70 micometer mesh, suspended, and FACS-sorted to recover GFP-positive cells. GFP-MDA-MB-231 cells cultured alone and treated identically to the co-cultured counterparts were used as controls.