The Expression of ERE & NFkB in Breast Cancer Cell Lines
Session Number
Project ID: MEDH 21
Advisor(s)
Dr. Jonna Frasor; University of Illinois at Chicago
Discipline
Medical and Health Sciences
Start Date
22-4-2020 9:45 AM
End Date
22-4-2020 10:00 AM
Abstract
A devastating disease, estrogen-receptor-positive, or ER+, breast cancer (BC) occurs when ERα (estrogen receptor alpha) is present in the tumors and assists with proliferation. Not only is ERα a factor, but previous studies have shown a correlation between NFkB, a family of transcription factors significant to the treatment of cancer, and ER. Since determining the effects of ER/NFkB activity on ER+ breast cancer cells can be potentially beneficial for treating breast cancer in the future, we conducted a study examining the varying levels of expression with ERE (or estrogen receptor element) and NFkB in ER+ breast cancer cell lines with the goal of finding a clone cell line that was representative of the bulk population. Additionally, our study also examined the characteristics of stem cells, also thought to be the reason behind relapses in breast cancer due to their highly versatile nature. The second goal was to characterize stem cell properties in ER+ breast cancer. To accomplish this, clone cell lines and colonies were grown with transfected plasmids that allowed NFkB and ER activity to be seen with GFP and mCherry respectively. These were monitored over a course of one to two weeks before scanned in Celigo to see the levels of expression in the two different channels. Mammosphere forming efficiency was also calculated as it was another factor in determining which clone line was the most representative of the bulk in addition to the ER/NFkB activity. The results from these scans were graphed, and it is evident that breast cancer cells tend to exhibit significantly more ER activity than NFkB. This has yet to lead us to a concrete conclusion.
The Expression of ERE & NFkB in Breast Cancer Cell Lines
A devastating disease, estrogen-receptor-positive, or ER+, breast cancer (BC) occurs when ERα (estrogen receptor alpha) is present in the tumors and assists with proliferation. Not only is ERα a factor, but previous studies have shown a correlation between NFkB, a family of transcription factors significant to the treatment of cancer, and ER. Since determining the effects of ER/NFkB activity on ER+ breast cancer cells can be potentially beneficial for treating breast cancer in the future, we conducted a study examining the varying levels of expression with ERE (or estrogen receptor element) and NFkB in ER+ breast cancer cell lines with the goal of finding a clone cell line that was representative of the bulk population. Additionally, our study also examined the characteristics of stem cells, also thought to be the reason behind relapses in breast cancer due to their highly versatile nature. The second goal was to characterize stem cell properties in ER+ breast cancer. To accomplish this, clone cell lines and colonies were grown with transfected plasmids that allowed NFkB and ER activity to be seen with GFP and mCherry respectively. These were monitored over a course of one to two weeks before scanned in Celigo to see the levels of expression in the two different channels. Mammosphere forming efficiency was also calculated as it was another factor in determining which clone line was the most representative of the bulk in addition to the ER/NFkB activity. The results from these scans were graphed, and it is evident that breast cancer cells tend to exhibit significantly more ER activity than NFkB. This has yet to lead us to a concrete conclusion.