Petersen O W, Lind Nielsen H, Gudjonsson T, Villadsen R, Rønnov-Jessen L, Bissell M J
Structural Cell Biology Unit, Institute of Medical Anatomy, The Panum Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Breast Cancer Res. 2001;3(4):213-7. doi: 10.1186/bcr298. Epub 2001 Jun 12.
The human breast comprises three lineages: the luminal epithelial lineage, the myoepithelial lineage, and the mesenchymal lineage. It has been widely accepted that human breast neoplasia pertains only to the luminal epithelial lineage. In recent years, however, evidence has accumulated that neoplastic breast epithelial cells may be substantially more plastic in their differentiation repertoire than previously anticipated. Thus, along with an increasing availability of markers for the myoepithelial lineage, at least a partial differentiation towards this lineage is being revealed frequently. It has also become clear that conversions towards the mesenchymal lineage actually occur, referred to as epithelial to mesenchymal transitions. Indeed, some of the so-called myofibroblasts surrounding the tumor may have an epithelial origin rather than a mesenchymal origin. Because myoepithelial cells, epithelial to mesenchymal transition-derived cells, genuine stromal cells and myofibroblasts share common markers, we now need to define a more ambitious set of markers to distinguish these cell types in the microenvironment of the tumors. This is necessary because the different microenvironments may confer different clinical outcomes. The aim of this commentary is to describe some of the inherent complexities in defining cellular phenotypes in the microenvironment of breast cancer and to expand wherever possible on the implications for tumor suppression and progression.
管腔上皮谱系、肌上皮谱系和间充质谱系。人们普遍认为人类乳腺肿瘤仅涉及管腔上皮谱系。然而，近年来，越来越多的证据表明，肿瘤性乳腺上皮细胞在其分化潜能方面可能比之前预期的更具可塑性。因此，随着肌上皮谱系标志物的日益增多，经常发现肿瘤性乳腺上皮细胞至少会部分分化为该谱系。同样明确的是，确实会发生向间充质谱系的转变，即上皮-间充质转化。实际上，肿瘤周围一些所谓的肌成纤维细胞可能起源于上皮而非间充质。由于肌上皮细胞、上皮-间充质转化衍生细胞、真正的基质细胞和肌成纤维细胞共享一些共同标志物，我们现在需要定义一套更全面的标志物，以在肿瘤微环境中区分这些细胞类型。这是必要的，因为不同的微环境可能导致不同的临床结果。本述评的目的是描述在定义乳腺癌微环境中细胞表型时所固有的一些复杂性，并尽可能详细阐述其对肿瘤抑制和进展的影响。
