Poster #003
Gene Expression Analysis in TNBC Using Cancer Stem Cell Markers
Mentors: Pranabananda Dutta, PhD; PI: Pranabananda Dutta, PhD
Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype that disproportionately affects African-American women and lacks targeted therapies due to the absence of estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. Cancer stem cells, marked by proteins like CD44, have been linked to TNBC progression, resistance, and metastasis. This study investigates CD44 expression and its association with genes involved in tumor aggressiveness in TNBC. CD44 protein levels were assessed in breast cancer cell lines using western blotting. Gene expression data from TCGA (BRCA-Basal subtype, female-only) were analyzed via cBioPortal, with samples split into CD44 high- and low-expression groups. Western blot confirmed high CD44 expression in aggressive cell lines. Bioinformatic analysis showed that high CD44 TNBC samples had increased CORO1C, HAS3, SLC1A2, and ITGA6 expression genes associated with migration, invasion, and metastasis. These genes may help identify high-risk TNBC cases and offer potential targets for future therapies.