Basal-like breast cancer stimulates MUC1 to support an epithelial/mesenchymal hybrid state and survive radiotherapy
We employed high-throughput sequencing with spatial resolution in the WAP-T mouse model of basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) to investigate the transcriptomic response to radiation therapy (RT). Our analysis revealed a distinct spatial pattern of gene expression (10X visium platform), with irradiated BLBC tumors exhibiting a strong enrichment of epithelial genes and a hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal (E/M) state. Notably, MUC1 expression was upregulated in response to RT, suggesting its role as a key driver of cell survival. These findings provide new insights into the spatial transcriptomic landscape of BLBC under RT and highlight the potential of MUC1 as a therapeutic target or prognostic marker for optimizing patient response to RT.