Transcription profiling of human primary breast tumors and matched short-term epithelial cultures

Background To identify the spectrum of malignant attributes maintained outside the host environment, we have compared global gene expression in primary breast tumors and matched short-term epithelial cultures. Results In contrast to immortal cell lines, a characteristic 'limited proliferation' phenotype was observed, which included over expressed genes associated with the TGFbeta signal transduction pathway, such as SPARC, LOXL1, RUNX1, and DAPK1. Underlying this profile was the conspicuous absence of hTERT expression and telomerase activity, a significant increase in TGFbeta receptor2, its cognate ligand, and the CDK inhibitor, p21CIP1/WAF1. Concurrently, tumor tissue and primary cultures displayed low transcript levels of proliferation-related genes, such as, TOP2A, ANKT, RAD51, UBE2C, CENPA, RRM2, and PLK. Conclusions Our data demonstrate that commonly used immortal cell lines do not reflect some aspects of tumor biology as closely as primary tumor cell cultures. The gene expression profile of malignant tissue, which is uniquely retained by cells cultured on solid substrates, could facilitate the development and testing of novel molecular targets for breast cancer.