Luminal progenitor and fetal mammary stem cell expression features predict breast tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Mammary gland morphology and physiology are supported by an underlying cellular differentiation hierarchy. Molecular features associated with particular cell types along this hierarchy may contribute to the biological and clinical heterogeneity observed in human breast carcinomas. Investigating the normal cellular developmental phenotypes in breast tumors may provide new prognostic paradigms, identify new targetable pathways, and explain breast cancer subtype etiology. We used transcriptomic profiles coming from fluorescence-activated cell sorted (FACS) normal mammary epithelial cell types from several independent human and murine studies. Using a meta-analysis approach, we derived consensus gene signatures for both species and used these to relate tumors to normal mammary epithelial cell phenotypes. We then compiled a dataset of breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant anthracycline and taxane chemotherapy regimens to determine if normal cellular traits predict the likelihood of a pathological complete response (pCR) in a multivariate logistic regression analysis with clinical markers and genomic features such as cell proliferation. Most human and murine tumor subtypes shared some, but not all, features with a specific FACS-purified normal cell type; thus for most tumors a potential distinct cell type of ‘origin’ could be assigned. We found that both human luminal progenitor and mouse fetal mammary stem cell features predicted pCR sensitivity across all breast cancer patients even after controlling for intrinsic subtype, proliferation, and clinical variables. This work identifies new clinically relevant gene signatures and highlights the value of a developmental biology perspective for uncovering relationships between tumor subtypes and their potential normal cellular counterparts.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10549-014-3262-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Transcriptomic classification of genetically engineered mouse models of breast cancer identifies human subtype counterparts

Background: Human breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease consisting of multiple molecular subtypes. Genetically engineered mouse models are a useful resource for studying mammary cancers in vivo under genetically controlled and immune competent conditions. Identifying murine models with conserved human tumor features will facilitate etiology determinations, highlight the effects of mutations on pathway activation, and should improve preclinical drug testing. Results: Transcriptomic profiles of 27 murine models of mammary carcinoma and normal mammary tissue were determined using gene expression microarrays. Hierarchical clustering analysis identified 17 distinct murine subtypes. Cross-species analyses using three independent human breast cancer datasets identified eight murine classes that resemble specific human breast cancer subtypes. Multiple models were associated with human basal-like tumors including TgC3(1)-Tag, TgWAP-Myc and Trp53-/-. Interestingly, the TgWAPCre-Etv6 model mimicked the HER2-enriched subtype, a group of human tumors without a murine counterpart in previous comparative studies. Gene signature analysis identified hundreds of commonly expressed pathway signatures between linked mouse and human subtypes, highlighting potentially common genetic drivers of tumorigenesis. Conclusions: This study of murine models of breast carcinoma encompasses the largest comprehensive genomic dataset to date to identify human-to-mouse disease subtype counterparts. Our approach illustrates the value of comparisons between species to identify murine models that faithfully mimic the human condition and indicates that multiple genetically engineered mouse models are needed to represent the diversity of human breast cancers. The reported trans-species associations should guide model selection during preclinical study design to ensure appropriate representatives of human disease subtypes are used

Clonal analysis of Notch1-expressing cells reveals the existence of unipotent stem cells that retain long-term plasticity in the embryonic mammary gland.

Recent lineage tracing studies have revealed that mammary gland homeostasis relies on unipotent stem cells. However, whether and when lineage restriction occurs during embryonic mammary development, and which signals orchestrate cell fate specification, remain unknown. Using a combination of in vivo clonal analysis with whole mount immunofluorescence and mathematical modelling of clonal dynamics, we found that embryonic multipotent mammary cells become lineage-restricted surprisingly early in development, with evidence for unipotency as early as E12.5 and no statistically discernable bipotency after E15.5. To gain insights into the mechanisms governing the switch from multipotency to unipotency, we used gain-of-function Notch1 mice and demonstrated that Notch activation cell autonomously dictates luminal cell fate specification to both embryonic and basally committed mammary cells. These functional studies have important implications for understanding the signals underlying cell plasticity and serve to clarify how reactivation of embryonic programs in adult cells can lead to cancer.Wellcome Trus

An Investigation of the Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices of Physics Teaching Assistants, with Implications for TA Preparation

Physics Teaching Assistants (TAs) serve a critical role in supporting student learning in various classroom environments, including discussions and laboratories. As research-based instructional strategies become more widespread in these settings, the TA\u27s role is expanding beyond simply presenting physics content to encompass facilitating student discussion and attending to student reasoning. At the same time, we recognize that these TAs are physics professionals and future faculty, and their teaching experiences in graduate school have the potential for long-term impact on their professional identities. Consequently, there is a need to enhance traditional forms of preparation to support TAs in this expanded role in ways that complement broader professional development opportunities. Enhancing TA preparation requires understanding how TAs make sense of their roles as instructors so that we may identify potential avenues for intervention that support the development of practices that are (1) supportive of curricular goals and (2) consistent with the TAs\u27 overall pedagogical model. The intent of this thesis is to develop a single overarching framework for analyzing how TAs talk about and carry out their roles as instructors. We then apply this framework to a set of interview and video data from multiple semesters, and make claims regarding instances of coordination and dis-coordination between TAs\u27 beliefs and practices. Furthermore, we are able to track changes in beliefs and practices along various time scales. Finally, we return to the issue of TA preparation by identifying features of enhanced professional and pedagogical development, drawn from results of these studies, that could operate within existing institutional structures

Design and application of a framework for examining the beliefs and practices of physics teaching assistants

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators.] We present a newly validated and refined framework, TA-PIVOT (TA Practices In and Views Of Teaching), for examining how physics TAs talk about and how they engage in physics teaching. This work builds upon and extends prior efforts to characterize instructors’ beliefs and practices by examining both domains in parallel. We present the comprehensive framework (developed from a study of 31 total TAs) and demonstrate its utility in analyzing both interviews and classroom video observations for a sample of eight TAs. We also discuss how this framework may be used to examine variation in beliefs and practices, track the development of beliefs over time, and inform TA preparation

p53, Stem Cells, and Reprogramming: Tumor Suppression beyond Guarding the Genome

p53 is well recognized as a potent tumor suppressor. In its classic role, p53 responds to genotoxic insults by inducing cell cycle exit or programmed cell death to limit the propagation of cells with corrupted genomes. p53 is also implicated in a variety of other cellular processes in which its involvement is less well understood including self-renewal, differentiation, and reprogramming. These activities represent an emerging area of intense interest for cancer biologists, as they provide potential mechanistic links between p53 loss and the stem cell–like cellular plasticity that has been suggested to contribute to tumor cell heterogeneity and to drive tumor progression. Despite accumulating evidence linking p53 loss to stem-like phenotypes in cancer, it is not yet understood how p53 contributes to acquisition of “stemness” at the molecular level. Whether and how stem-like cells confer survival advantages to propagate the tumor also remain to be resolved. Furthermore, although it seems reasonable that the combination of p53 deficiency and the stem-like state could contribute to the genesis of cancers that are refractory to treatment, direct linkages and mechanistic underpinnings remain under investigation. Here, we discuss recent findings supporting the connection between p53 loss and the emergence of tumor cells bearing functional and molecular similarities to stem cells. We address several potential molecular and cellular mechanisms that may contribute to this link, and we discuss implications of these findings for the way we think about cancer progression

BNIP3 Is an RB/E2F Target Gene Required for Hypoxia-Induced Autophagy▿ †

Hypoxia and nutrient deprivation are environmental stresses governing the survival and adaptation of tumor cells in vivo. We have identified a novel role for the Rb tumor suppressor in protecting against nonapoptotic cell death in the developing mouse fetal liver, in primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts, and in tumor cell lines. Loss of pRb resulted in derepression of BNip3, a hypoxia-inducible member of the Bcl-2 superfamily of cell death regulators. We identified BNIP3 as a direct target of pRB/E2F-mediated transcriptional repression and showed that pRB attenuates the induction of BNIP3 by hypoxia-inducible factor to prevent autophagic cell death. BNIP3 was essential for hypoxia-induced autophagy, and its ability to promote autophagosome formation was enhanced under conditions of nutrient deprivation. Knockdown of BNIP3 reduced cell death, and remaining deaths were necrotic in nature. These studies identify BNIP3 as a key regulator of hypoxia-induced autophagy and suggest a novel role for the RB tumor suppressor in preventing nonapoptotic cell death by limiting the extent of BNIP3 induction in cells