Establishment and characterisation of two novel breast cancer cell lines

Two novel oestrogen receptor (ER) negative breast cancer cell lines, BCa-11 (familial) and BCa-15 (sporadic) were successfully established from primary tumours. Characterisation of these cell lines showed expression of epithelial specific antigen and cytokeratins confirming their epithelial lineage. Analysis of ultrastructure and anchorage independent growth confirmed the epithelial nature and transformed phenotype of these cells. Both cell lines showed loss of pRb, Dab2 and ERα and elevated levels of proliferation marker Ki67. In addition, BCa-11 cells showed loss of HOXA5, tumour suppressor genes p16INK4A and RARβ as well as overexpression of CyclinD1. Elevation of DNMT1 and DNMT3B transcript levels, promoter hypermethylation of RASSF1A, RARβ2, and HOXA5 further support their neoplastic origin. In conclusion, the two ERα negative breast cancer cell lines established herein have certain useful characteristics that may make them valuable for understanding the mechanism of oestrogen receptor negative breast tumours and testing new drugs.