MCF-7 is a

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

cell line isolated in 1970 from a 69-year-old

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

woman. MCF-7 is the acronym of Michigan Cancer Foundation-7, referring to the institute in Detroit where the cell line was established in 1973 by Herbert Soule and co-workers. The Michigan Cancer Foundation is now known as the

Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, headquartered in Detroit, is the largest cancer research and provider network in Michigan and has 16 treatment locations. It is one of 51 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer treatme ...

. Prior to MCF-7, it was not possible for cancer researchers to obtain a mammary cell line that was capable of living longer than a few months. The patient, Frances Mallon died in 1970. Her cells were the source of much of current knowledge about breast cancer. At the time of sampling, she was a nun in the convent of

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

Monroe, Michigan Monroe is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Monroe had a population of 20,462 in the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomo ...

under the name of Sister Catherine Frances. MCF-7 and two other breast cancer cell lines, named

T-47D T-47D is a human breast cancer cell line commonly used in biomedical research involving the hormonal expression of cancer cells. Characteristics The cells were derived from the pleural effusion of a ductal carcinoma found in the mammary gland of a ...

and

MDA-MB-231 Scientists study the behaviour of isolated cells grown in the laboratory for insights into how cells function in the body in health and disease. Experiments using cell culture Cell culture or tissue culture is the process by which cells are ...

, account for more than two-thirds of all abstracts reporting studies on mentioned breast cancer cell lines, as concluded from a

Medline MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, or MEDLARS Online) is a bibliographic database of life sciences and biomedical information. It includes bibliographic information for articles from academic journals covering medic ...

-based survey.

Characteristics of MCF-7 cells

MCF-7 cells have the following characteristics: *Primary tumor (invasive

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...

ductal

carcinoma Carcinoma is a malignancy that develops from epithelial cells. Specifically, a carcinoma is a cancer that begins in a tissue that lines the inner or outer surfaces of the body, and that arises from cells originating in the endodermal, mesodermal ...

) *Originate from

pleural effusion A pleural effusion is accumulation of excessive fluid in the pleural space, the potential space that surrounds each lung. Under normal conditions, pleural fluid is secreted by the parietal pleural capillaries at a rate of 0.6 millilitre per kilog ...

Estrogen receptor Estrogen receptors (ERs) are a group of proteins found inside cells. They are receptors that are activated by the hormone estrogen ( 17β-estradiol). Two classes of ER exist: nuclear estrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ), which are members of the ...

s present *Proliferative response to

estrogens Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex steroid, sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogeny (biology), endogenous estrogens th ...

*Presence of

progesterone receptor The progesterone receptor (PR), also known as NR3C3 or nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group C, member 3, is a protein found inside cells. It is activated by the steroid hormone progesterone. In humans, PR is encoded by a single ''PGR'' gene resid ...

s *Cannot have ''

ERBB2 Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ERBB2'' gene. ERBB is abbreviated from erythroblastic oncogene B, a gene originally isolated from the avian genome. The human protein is also frequently refer ...

'' gene amplification (with

Her2/neu Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ERBB2'' gene. ERBB is abbreviated from erythroblastic oncogene B, a gene originally isolated from the avian genome. The human protein is also frequently refer ...

protein overexpression) *Tumorigenic in mice but only with

estrogen Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal acti ...

supplementation if engrafted into the subcutaneous fat or mammary fat pad *Tumorigenic in mice without estrogen supplementation if engrafted intraductally *Luminal epithelial phenotype This cell line retained several characteristics of differentiated mammary epithelium, including the ability to process

estradiol Estradiol (E2), also spelled oestradiol, is an estrogen steroid hormone and the major female sex hormone. It is involved in the regulation of the estrous and menstrual female reproductive cycles. Estradiol is responsible for the development of f ...

via cytoplasmic estrogen receptors and the capability of forming domes. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (

TNF alpha Tumor necrosis factor (TNF, cachexin, or cachectin; formerly known as tumor necrosis factor alpha or TNF-α) is an adipokine and a cytokine. TNF is a member of the TNF superfamily, which consists of various transmembrane proteins with a homolog ...

) inhibits the growth of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Treatment with anti-estrogens can modulate the secretion of

insulin-like growth factor binding proteins The insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP) serves as a transport protein for insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Function Approximately 98% of IGF-1 is always bound to one of six binding proteins (IGF-BP). IGFBP-3, the most abund ...

. Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids such as EPA, DHA and AA has been reported to inhibit MCF-7 cell line growth and proliferation. PIK3CA helical mutations were identified in MCF-7, but with low AKT activation.

References

External links

The University of Texas MD Anderson Breast Cancer Cell Line Data BaseCellosaurus entry for MCF-7
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcf-7 Human cell lines Breast cancer