Tumor-escape from the cytotoxic action of the immune system is an emergent hallmark of cancer. Although our understanding of how tumors suppress immunosurveillance remains unclear, human cancer develops resistance to targeted therapies after initial success. More comprehensive targeted therapies may be developed on understanding the cross-talk between cancer cells and immune cells. This study aims to identify secreted biochemical signals secreted by malignant cells to skew immune response. Three cell lines were investigated - two breast cancer cell lines (BT474 and SKBR3) and a normal human mammary epithelial cell line (184A1).  A proteomics workflow that includes 2DE, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, and PMF were used to analyze the proteome. Collectively, the results suggest commonalities and differences among the cell lines. Proteins associated with exosomes were identified in the secretome and  SEM confirmed exosome presence. Differences in secreted proteome in malignant cell lines were also confirmed by western blot. Future studies focus on elucidating the role of tumor-derived secreted protein on immune cell function. In summary, proteomics provides a less biased approach to understand the biochemical signals that malignant cells use to escape immunity and better understanding of cell-to cell communication in breast cancer.

Characterizing and comparing secretome from breast cancer and normal human cell models

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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