PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Anne Weber-Ouellette
AU  - Mélanie Busby
AU  - Isabelle Plante
TI  - Luminal MCF-12A and myoepithelial-like Hs 578Bst cells form bilayered acini similar to human breast
AID  - 10.1101/248765
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 248765
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/01/16/248765.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/01/16/248765.full
AB  - The mammary gland is a complex organ, structured in a ramified epithelium supported by the stroma. The epithelium’s functional unit is the bilayered acinus, made of a layer of luminal cells surrounded by a layer of basal cells mainly composed of myoepithelial cells. The aim of this study was to develop a reproducible and manipulable three-dimensional co-culture model of the bilayered acinus in vitro to study the interactions between the two layers. Two different combinations of cell lines were co-cultured in Matrigel: SCp2 and SCg6 mice cells, or MCF-12A and Hs 578Bst human cell lines. Cell ratios and Matrigel concentration were optimized. The resulting acini were analysed by confocal microscopy using epithelial (E-cadherin) and myoepithelial (α-smooth muscle actin) markers. SCp2 and SCg6 cells formed distinct three-dimensional structures, whereas MCF-12A and Hs 578Bst cells formed some bilayered acini. This in vitro bilayered acini model will allow us to understand the role of interactions between luminal and myoepithelial cells in the normal breast development.