Abstract PR06: Modeling the tumor microenvironment to identify novel loss of function mutations in breast cancer progression

Recent next generation sequencing studies have comprehensively mapped the genetic landscape of breast cancer and revealed that only a small number of genes are recurrently mutated in more than 10% of unselected tumors (i.e. TP53, PIK3CA and GATA3), and that the vast majority of recurrent mutations occur at low frequencies. Although some have been shown to be drivers (i.e. confer a selective advantage), such as oncogenic ERBB2 mutations, there is a myriad of significantly altered lower frequency mutations whose functional impact is unknown.We utilized a functional genomics approach silencing the 200 most frequently mutated genes in breast cancer in 3D spheroid cultures that more accurately recapitulate in vivo like conditions, using the MCF10A progression series cell line panel to identify novel loss of function mutations that affect breast cancer progression from non-malignant to highly invasive disease. Genes whose silencing significantly altered spheroid growth were integrated with comprehensive copy number and mutation data in order to analyze the impact of these genes in concert with additional driver alterations in genes such as TP53 and PIK3CA mutations.We identified 11 genes whose silencing with siRNA had a significant effect on growth in two or more cell lines in 3D, including FMN2, FOXA1, NIPBL and CREBBP. Silencing of FMN2 increased spheroid growth in the invasive cell lines only, suggesting loss of function mutations are a later event in breast cancer progression. ...
Source: Molecular Cancer Research - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Tumor Heterogeneity (Intratumor and Intertumoral): Oral Presentations - Proffered Abstracts Source Type: research