Establishment and Characterization of a HER2-Positive Cell Line Derived From the Pleural Effusion of a Drug-Resistant Breast Cancer Patient

Zhaoqing Li; Wenying Zhuo; Lini Chen; Xun Zhang; Cong Chen; Dengdi Hu; Yongxia Chen; Jingjing Yang; Yulu Zhou; Misha Mao; Ling Xu; Siwei Ju; Jun Shen; Qinchuan Wang; Minjun Dong; Shuduo Xie; Jichun Zhou; Linbo Wang

doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.680968

Establishment and Characterization of a HER2-Positive Cell Line Derived From the Pleural Effusion of a Drug-Resistant Breast Cancer Patient

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Jun 1:9:680968. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.680968. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Zhaoqing Li^{1

2

3}, Wenying Zhuo^{2

3

4}, Lini Chen^{2

3}, Xun Zhang^{2

3}, Cong Chen^{2

3}, Dengdi Hu^{2

3

4}, Yongxia Chen^{2

3}, Jingjing Yang^{2

3}, Yulu Zhou^{2

3}, Misha Mao^{2

3}, Ling Xu^{2

3}, Siwei Ju^{2

3}, Jun Shen^{2

3}, Qinchuan Wang^{2

3}, Minjun Dong^{2

3}, Shuduo Xie^{2

3}, Jichun Zhou^{2

3}, Linbo Wang^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Cancer Institute, China National Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
² Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Biotherapy of Zhejiang Province, Biomedical Research Center, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ The Affiliated Cixi Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Ningbo, China.

Abstract

Drug resistance is a daunting challenge in the treatment of breast cancer, making it an urgent problem to solve in studies. Cell lines are important tools in basic and preclinical studies; however, few breast cell lines from drug-resistant patients are available. Herein, we established a novel HER2-positive breast cancer cell line from the pleural effusion of a drug-resistant metastatic breast cancer patient. This cell line has potent proliferative capability and tumorigenicity in nude mice but weak invasive and colony-forming capability. The molecular subtype of the cell line and its sensitivity to chemotherapeutics and HER2-targeting agents are different from those of its origin, suggesting that the phenotype changes between the primary and metastatic forms of breast cancer.

Keywords: HER2 targeting; HER2-positive; breast cancer cell line 4Z-B-1; invasive ductal breast carcinoma; metastatic; phenotype change.