Choudhury S, Almendro V, Merino VF, Wu Z, Maruyama R, Su Y, Martins FC, Fackler MJ, Bessarabova M, Kowalczyk A, Conway T, Beresford-Smith B, Macintyre G, Cheng YK, Lopez-Bujanda Z, Kaspi A, Hu R, Robens J, Nikolskaya T, Haakensen VD, Schnitt SJ, Argani P, Ethington G, Panos L, Grant M, Clark J, Herlihy W, Lin SJ, Chew G, Thompson EW, Greene-Colozzi A, Richardson AL, Rosson GD, Pike M, Garber JE, Nikolsky Y, Blum JL, Au A, Hwang ES, Tamimi RM, Michor F, Haviv I, Liu XS, Sukumar S, Polyak K. Molecular profiling of human mammary gland links breast cancer risk to a p27(+) cell population with progenitor characteristics. Cell Stem Cell. 2013 Jul 03; 13(1):117-30.

Citation

Choudhury S, Almendro V, Merino VF, Wu Z, Maruyama R, Su Y, Martins FC, Fackler MJ, Bessarabova M, Kowalczyk A, Conway T, Beresford-Smith B, Macintyre G, Cheng YK, Lopez-Bujanda Z, Kaspi A, Hu R, Robens J, Nikolskaya T, Haakensen VD, Schnitt SJ, Argani P, Ethington G, Panos L, Grant M, Clark J, Herlihy W, Lin SJ, Chew G, Thompson EW, Greene-Colozzi A, Richardson AL, Rosson GD, Pike M, Garber JE, Nikolsky Y, Blum JL, Au A, Hwang ES, Tamimi RM, Michor F, Haviv I, Liu XS, Sukumar S, Polyak K. 2013. Molecular profiling of human mammary gland links breast cancer risk to a p27(+) cell population with progenitor characteristics. Cell stem cell. 13(1):117-30. Pubmed: 23770079 DOI:S1934-5909(13)00197-5

Abstract

Early full-term pregnancy is one of the most effective natural protections against breast cancer. To investigate this effect, we have characterized the global gene expression and epigenetic profiles of multiple cell types from normal breast tissue of nulliparous and parous women and carriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. We found significant differences in CD44(+) progenitor cells, where the levels of many stem cell-related genes and pathways, including the cell-cycle regulator p27, are lower in parous women without BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations. We also noted a significant reduction in the frequency of CD44(+)p27(+) cells in parous women and showed, using explant cultures, that parity-related signaling pathways play a role in regulating the number of p27(+) cells and their proliferation. Our results suggest that pathways controlling p27(+) mammary epithelial cells and the numbers of these cells relate to breast cancer risk and can be explored for cancer risk assessment and prevention.

Related Faculty

Franziska Michor, Ph.D.

Michor Lab

Franziska Michor uses the tools of theoretical evolutionary biology, applied mathematics, statistics, and computational biology to address important questions in cancer research.