The SUM-149PT cell line was derived from the mastectomy specimen of an African American patient previously diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. The specimen came to the lab post neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, and yet cells isolated from the specimen proliferated well. This cell line has several defining features. First, like all inflammatory breast cancers, this cell line expresses high levels of the CDH1 gene product, E-Cadherin. The cells are TP53 mutant, and also have a transection of the PTEN gene, making the cells PTEN null at the message and protein level. Of particular interest is the amphiregulin-mediated autocrine signaling loop that results in overexpression and constitutive activation of the EGFR. The cells are dependent on EGFR signaling for growth, but because the EGFR is activated as a result of the presence of amphiregulin, the cells are highly motile and invasive. In addition, the amphiregulin-EGFR signaling axis results in expression of inflammatory cytokines and an active NF-kappaB signaling pathway. Thus, amphiregulin-mediated EGFR signaling in the context of PTEN loss and TP53 mutation are the basis of the aggressive growth phenotypes of these cells.
Okay, let’s delve more deeply into the SUM-149 cell line.
- Characteristics of the patient from which SUM-149 was derived
- Narrative Summary of the SUM-149 cell line
- The mutational oncogene signature for this cell line
- The KEGG canonical pathways enriched with data from our genome-scale shRNA screen
- Functional-druggable signature for SUM-149 cells
- Differential drug sensitivity data from Heiser et al.
- Bibliography of published papers in which SUM-149 cells were used
- SUM-149 Blog page
Back to the SUM cell line Gateway Page
My lab has had issues freezing and thawing SUM149 cells. The first 2 freeze thaw cycles the cells are fine but after the third they don’t attach. We use 10% DMSO, 30% FBS, and 60% complete media as our freezing media. Does anyone use a different freezing media for SUM149 cells and does anyone freeze their SUM149 cells differently than other cell lines?
I learned that the mutation site of BRCA1 in this cell line is very specific, can it prove whether this cell line is a somatic mutation or a germline mutation
My recollection about the BRCA1 mutation in SUM-149 is that is not one of the common mutations that are seen in BRCA1 families. By contrast, the mutation in SUM-1315 is one of the common heritable mutations. At the time we generated SUM-149 there wasn’t evidence that the patient was part of a BRCA1 family and I don’t believe either she or her family members were ever tested. Thus, I think it is most likely that her’s is a somatic mutation in BRCA1.
I hope this helps a bit. Thanks for comment.
Steve Ethier