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A transcriptional response to replication stress selectively expands a subset of BRCA2-mutant mammary epithelial cells

Ghaderi Najafabadi, M.; Gray, G. K.; Kong, L. R.; Gupta, K.; Perera, D.; Brugge, J. S.; Venkitaraman, A.; Shehata, M.

2022-11-16 cancer biology
10.1101/2022.11.14.516328 bioRxiv
Show abstract

BRCA2 mutation carriers preferentially develop luminal-like breast cancers, but it remains unclear how BRCA2 mutations affect mammary epithelial subpopulations. Here, we report that Brca2mut/WT mammary organoids subjected to replication stress activated a transcriptional response that selectively expands Brca2mut/WT luminal cells lacking hormone receptor expression (HR-). While CyTOF analyses revealed comparable epithelial compositions among wildtype and Brca2mut/WT mammary glands, Brca2mut/WT HR- luminal cells exhibited greater organoid formation and preferentially survived and expanded under replication stress. ScRNA-seq analysis corroborated the expansion of HR- luminal cells which express elevated levels of Tetraspanin-8 (Tspan8) and Thrsp mRNA, and pathways implicated in replication stress survival including Type I interferon responses. Notably, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of Tspan8 or Thrsp prevented Brca2mut/WT HR- luminal cell expansion. Our findings indicate that Brca2mut/WT cells have an activate a transcriptional response after replication stress that preferentially favours outgrowth of HR- luminal cells through the expression of interferon-responsive and mammary alveolar genes.

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