MYC Deregulation and PTEN Loss Model Tumor and Stromal Heterogeneity of Aggressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients have a poor prognosis and few treatment options. Mouse models of TNBC are important for development of new therapies, however, few mouse models represent the complexity of TNBC. Here, we develop a female TNBC murine model by mimicking two common TNBC mutations with high co-occurrence: amplification of the oncogene MYC and deletion of the tumor suppressor PTEN. This Myc;Ptenfl model develops heterogeneous triple-negative mammary tumors that display histological and molecular features commonly found in human TNBC. Our research involves deep molecular and spatial analyses on Myc;Ptenfl tumors including bulk and single-cell RNA-sequencing, and multiplex tissue-imaging. Through comparison with human TNBC, we demonstrate that this genetic mouse model develops mammary tumors with differential survival and therapeutic responses that closely resemble the inter- and intra-tumoral and microenvironmental heterogeneity of human TNBC, providing a pre-clinical tool for assessing the spectrum of patient TNBC biology and drug response.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Sep 13, 2023
Source ID
10.1038/s41467-023-40841-6

Entities

People

  • Aaron Ko
  • Carl Pelz
  • Colin J. Daniel
  • Courtney Betts
  • Dylan Blumberg
  • Ellen M. Langer
  • Elmar Bucher
  • Eun Na Kim
  • Gordon B. Mills
  • Jennifer A. Pietenpol
  • Jennifer Eng
  • Joe W. Gray
  • Koei Chin
  • Laura M Heiser
  • Lisa Coussens
  • Luke Ternes
  • Melinda E. Sanders
  • Michael Munks
  • Mu-Shui Dai
  • Nell Kirchberger
  • Nicholas L Calistri
  • Rosalie C Sears
  • Sunjong Kwon
  • Trent Waugh
  • Xi Li
  • Xiaoyan Wang
  • Young Hwan Chang
  • Zinab O. Doha
  • Zuzana Tatarova

Organizations

  • Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
  • National Cancer Institute

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Molecular and genetic basis of cancer.
  • Oncology (Cancer Research).

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology