title: Mammary tumor growth and metastasis are reduced in c-Kit mutant Sash mice.
abstract: Besides its well-known function in allergic response, mast cell, one of the key immune cells present in tumor microenvironment, plays important roles in cancer progression. However, the functional role of mast cells in breast cancer development and metastasis is not well understood. To test the involvement of mast cells in breast cancer, we examined the effects of loss of mast cells on mammary tumor development by crossing the well-known mast cell deficient mouse strain sash (Kit(W-sh/W-sh) ) with the mammary tumor transgenic mouse strain MMTV-Polyoma Middle T antigen (PyMT). Although mammary tumor onset was not affected in the absence of mast cells, mammary growth and metastasis were reduced in PyMT/Kit(W-sh/W-sh) mice compared with PyMT/wild-type mice (WT). Histological and immunofluorescent analyses showed that tumors from PyMT/Kit(W-sh/W-sh) mice showed largely differentiated morphology with reduced angiogenesis compared with MMTV-PyMT/WT mice. Our results suggest that mast cells may promote breast cancer growth and metastasis. Agents that can block mast cells growth are potential new therapies to treat metastatic breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035, China.
authors.forename: Licai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035, China.
authors.forename: Zhenfeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035, China.
authors.forename: Shang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, 80045.
authors.forename: Yongping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035, China.|Department of Pathology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, 80045.
authors.forename: Haihua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy; D002452:Cell Count; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D015674:Mammary Neoplasms, Animal / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009154:Mutation; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000235:genetics*; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit
keywords: Breast cancer; mast cells; metastasis; mouse models; tumor growth