Expression data from mammary epithelial cells from BRCA1 mutation carriers and non BRCA1 mutation carriers

Female BRCA1 mutation carriers have a nearly 80% probability of developing breast cancer during their life-time. We hypothesized that the breast epithelium at risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers harbors mammary epithelial cells (MECs) with altered proliferation and differentiation properties. Microarray studies revealed that PMEC colonies from BRCA1 mutation carriers anticipate expression profiles found in BRCA1-related tumors, and that the EGFR pathway is upregulated in BRCA1 mutation carriers compared ton non BRCA1 mutation carriers. Keywords: Class comparison and pathway analysis 10 colonies were collected and RNA was isolated using the Absolutely RNA Nanoprep kit, Stratagene. The arrays included duplicates from four normal controls and from two BRCA1 mutation carriers and single arrays from another two BRCA1 mutation carriers.