BMC Seminar, Thursday, 8th December at 12:00, Room 343, Læknagarður

Speaker: Eiríkur Briem, PhD student, Department of Medicine, University of Iceland.

Title: Profiling miRNAs in breast epithelial progenitor cells during branching morphogenesis and EMT in 3D culture

Short abstract: D492 is a human breast epithelial cell line with stem cell properties that can generate luminal and myoepithelial cells. When D492 is cultured in 3D reconstituted basement membrane (3D-rBM) it forms branching ducts reminiscent of terminal duct lobular units in the human breast gland. When cultured in vascular-rich environment D492 form increased branching structures with some cells undergoing epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). We performed small RNA sequencing of D492 and its mesenchymal derivative D492M, revealing changes in micro-RNA expression. Some of the differentially expressed miRNAs have previously been associated with maintenance of the epithelial phenotype, such as the miRNA 200 family. Among the most downregulated miRNAs in D492M is miR-203a, which plays an important role in epithelial development. Data from small RNA sequencing and profiling of miR-203a in breast progenitor cells will be presented.