This work was supported by FIRB-Merit grants RBNE08YFN3_005 and RBNE08HWLZ_012, and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance to the CNR for the Project &#8220;FaReBio di Qualit&#224;&#8221;.

1. Prepare siRNA solutions
<ol>
	<li>Resuspend 5 nmol of scrambled (Ctrl) and 5 nmol of BRCA2 siRNA dried pellets in 100 &#181;l of RNase-free water (final siRNA concentration: 50 &#181;M). This is the siRNA stock and must be stored at -20 &#176;C in 10 &#181;l aliquots.</li>
	<li>Take an aliquot of 10 &#181;l from the siRNA stock and add 40 &#181;l of RNase-free water to obtain the 10 &#181;M siRNA working solution. This dilution must be stored at -20 &#176;C until use. 
	NOTE: The siRNA working solution should not undergo freezing/thawing more than 3 times.</li>
</ol>
2. Seeding of Human Epithelial Cell Lines
<ol>
	<li>Remove the growth medium from human epithelial cell lines growing as cell monolayers in tissue culture plates in a humidified incubator at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2.</li>
	<li>Wash the cells in the plate once with RT PBS (10 ml of PBS for a 100 mm plate).</li>
	<li>To detach the cells from the plate, add 2 ml of 0.25% trypsin/0.53 mM EDTA solution and incubate 3-5 min depending on the cell type.</li>
	<li>Before collecting the detached cells, neutralize trypsin by adding 2 ml of complete growth medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum.</li>
	<li>Transfer the cells to a 15 ml tube.</li>
	<li>Centrifuge the cells at 320-330 x g for 3 min at 4 &#176;C in a swinging bucket rotor.</li>
	<li>Resuspend the cell pellets in 5 ml of antibiotics-free medium.</li>
	<li>Count the cells under the microscope in a Burker chamber or by using an automated counting system according to the manufacturer&#8217;s instructions.</li>
	<li>Seed the cells in 6-well plates to be about 80% confluent after 24 hr (0.5-1 x106 cells in 2 ml of medium for each well). Optimal cell number to be seeded may vary depending on the specific cell lines and the growth rate. 
	NOTE: Do not add antibiotics in the medium at this point because antibiotics will negatively interfere with the efficiency of transfection. It is very important that the cells are at low culture passages (&#60; 10) to achieve high efficiency of BRCA2 siRNA transfection.</li>
</ol>
3. Transfect cells with siRNA
<ol>
	<li>Twenty-four hours after plating the cells, proceed with the first round of transfection.
	<ol>
		<li>Dilute 6 &#181;l of lipid-based 10 siRNA specific transfection reagent in 130 &#181;l of reduced serum medium.</li>
		<li>Dilute 3 &#181;l of 10 &#181;M siRNA (30 pmol) in 130 &#181;l of reduced serum medium.</li>
		<li>Combine the diluted siRNA with the diluted transfection reagent and incubate for 5-10 min at RT.</li>
		<li>During the incubation, remove the medium from the cells and add 2 ml of fresh medium pre-warmed at 37 &#176;C (without antibiotics).</li>
		<li>Add 250 &#181;l of the siRNA-transfection reagent complexes to the cells (this amount is for a single well of a 6-well plate).</li>
		<li>Incubate the cells in a humidified incubator at 37 &#176;C with 5% CO2.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>After 24 hr, proceed with the second round of transfection by repeating steps 3.1.1-3.1.5 with the following modification for step 3.1.2: dilute 5 &#181;l of 10 &#181;M siRNA (50 pmol) in 130 &#181;l of reduced serum medium.
	<ol>
		<li>Incubate the cells for 1-2 days at 37 &#176;C before analysis. 
		NOTE: Two rounds of transfections and use of a high siRNA/transfection reagent ratio in the second round are essential to get high efficiency of BRCA2 silencing.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
4. Lyse cells for immunoblotting analysis
<ol>
	<li>&#160;Prepare fresh lysis buffer with PBS (pH 7.4) containing 1% of the nonionic, non-denaturing detergent octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol, 5 mM sodium pyrophosphate, 1 mM sodium orthovanadate, 10 mM sodium fluoride, 2 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 10 &#181;g/ml leupeptin, 10 &#181;g/ml aprotinin. Keep it on ice.</li>
	<li>Remove the medium from the cells and wash them once with cold PBS (2 ml/well) in the plate. To prevent any PBS carryover, completely remove it from the plate.</li>
	<li>Add 200 &#181;l of lysis buffer to each well. 
	NOTE: If the cells have to be used also for other assays, trypsinize the cells as described in step 2.1-2.6 and resuspend the cells in appropriate buffer/medium according to the application to be used.</li>
	<li>Gently rotate the plate to uniformly distribute the lysis buffer and incubate for 15 min at 4 &#176;C on a rotator.</li>
	<li>Collect the cell lysate in a microcentrifuge tube on ice using a cell scraper.</li>
	<li>Centrifuge at 17,900 x g for 25 min at 4 &#176;C and collect the supernatant in a new tube.</li>
	<li>Measure the protein concentration using a commercially available protein assay according to the manufacturer&#39;s instructions.</li>
</ol>
5. BRCA2 immunoblotting analysis
<ol>
	<li>Prepare the running buffer by diluting 50 ml of 20x Tris-Acetate SDS running buffer (50 mM Tricine, 50 mM Tris Base, 0.1% SDS, pH 8.24) with 950 ml of distilled water.</li>
	<li>Prepare the sample as follows: add 15 &#181;g of total cell lysate, 5 &#181;l of 4x sample buffer containing lithium dodecyl sulfate at pH 8.4, 2 &#181;l of 10x sample reducing agent (0.5 M DTT), and lysis buffer to a final volume of 20 &#181;l. 
	NOTE: This protocol allows detection of BRCA2 in normal cell lines also when using a lower amount of total proteins (down to 5 &#181;g).</li>
	<li>Denature samples at 55 &#176;C for 10 min. 
	NOTE: It is crucial to use 55 &#176;C. Since BRCA2 protein is thermosensitive 11, higher denaturing temperatures result in consistent loss of intact full-length (390 kDa) BRCA2 protein.</li>
	<li>Set up the electrophoretic chamber according to the manufacturer&#39;s instructions.</li>
	<li>Load the samples and 10 &#181;l of high-molecular weight pre-stained protein standard on a precasted gel (Tris-Acetate 3-8%) and run at 120 V for about 2 hr 12. Stop the electrophoretic run before the 55 kDa blue marker leaves the precasted gel.</li>
	<li>Prepare the transfer buffer with 50 ml of 20x transfer buffer, 100 ml of 100% methanol and 850 ml water.</li>
	<li>Activate PVDF membrane (0.45 &#181;m pore size) by soaking in 100% methanol for 5 min, rinse with distilled water and equilibrate in transfer buffer at least for 5 min. Soak the sponges of the transfer apparatus in Transfer buffer at 4 &#176;C until use.</li>
	<li>When the electrophoretic run is over, assemble the sandwich in the transfer stack in the following order (bottom-up): three sponges saturated in transfer buffer, one 3MM grade paper sheet saturated in transfer buffer, the gel, activated PVDF membrane, one 3MM grade paper sheet saturated in transfer buffer, three sponges saturated in transfer buffer 13,14. Place the stack into the apparatus and transfer proteins at 350 mA for 4 hr at 4 &#176;C or at 180 mA overnight at 4 &#176;C. 
	NOTE: Being BRCA2 a very large protein, it is crucial to extend the transfer time from 1 hr (as suggested by the manufacturer and most transfer protocols) to 4 hr or overnight to ensure complete transfer of high-molecular weight proteins. In addition, due to the long transfer time, it is essential to perform the blotting in a cold room at 4 &#176;C to minimize overheating and facilitate sandwich disassembling. Semi-dry transfer systems are not good for transferring large proteins.</li>
	<li>After transfer, wash the membrane with TBS, block it for 1 hr at RT in TBS-Tween 0.25% (TBS-T) containing 5% nonfat dry milk and probe overnight at 4 &#176;C with 30 &#956;l anti-BRCA2 rabbit polyclonal antibody (200 &#956;g/ml), diluted in 9 ml TBS-T + 5% nonfat dry milk [1:300 (v/v) dilution].</li>
	<li>Wash the membrane three times (10 min each) with TBS-T, then incubate the filter for 1 hr with 1 &#956;l of horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-rabbit secondary antibody diluted in 10 ml of TBS-T + 5% nonfat dry milk. Thereafter, wash the membrane three times (10 min each) with TBS-T.</li>
	<li>Perform immunodetection by ECL to reveal BRCA2 protein using enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) Western Blotting Detection Reagent, following the manufacturer&#39;s instructions. Visualize immunochemiluminescent bands on high resolution ECL films.</li>
	<li>Perform immunodetection with an antibody for a housekeeping gene, like &#946;-tubulin (55 kDa), on the same filter as loading control by using a monoclonal antibody to &#946;-tubulin diluted at 1:1,000 (10 &#181;l of anti-tubulin antibody in 10 ml TBS-T+5% non-fat dry milk) for 1 hr at RT. Wash and incubate secondary antibody as described for BRCA2 (5.10-5.11), except for the use of horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse instead of anti-rabbit secondary antibody.</li>
	<li>Acquire a digital image of the films impressed with immunochemiluminescent bands and analyze the band intensity by dedicated image analysis software (e.g., ImageJ).</li>
</ol>

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M., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Germline+mutations+in+BRCA1+and+BRCA2+in+breast-ovarian+families+from+a+breast+cancer+risk+evaluation+clinic.">Germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 in breast-ovarian families from a breast cancer risk evaluation clinic.</a> J Clin Oncol. 19, 2247-2253 (2001).</li><li>Castro, E., Eeles, R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+role+of+BRCA1+and+BRCA2+in+prostate+cancer.">The role of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in prostate cancer.</a> Asian J Androl. 14, 409-414 (2012).</li><li>Vencken, P. 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A., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Mitochondrial+DNA+depletion+sensitizes+cancer+cells+to+PARP+inhibitors+by+translational+and+post-translational+repression+of+BRCA2.">Mitochondrial DNA depletion sensitizes cancer cells to PARP inhibitors by translational and post-translational repression of BRCA2.</a> Oncogenesis. 2, e82 (2013).</li><li>Yang, F., Guo, X., Yang, G., Rosen, D. G., Liu, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=AURKA+and+BRCA2+expression+highly+correlate+with+prognosis+of+endometrioid+ovarian+carcinoma.">AURKA and BRCA2 expression highly correlate with prognosis of endometrioid ovarian carcinoma.</a> Mod Pathol. 24, 836-845 (2011).</li><li>Guaragnella, N., Marra, E., Galli, A., Moro, L., Giannattasio, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Silencing+of+BRCA2+decreases+anoikis+and+its+heterologous+expression+sensitizes+yeast+cells+to+acetic+acid-induced+programmed+cell+death.">Silencing of BRCA2 decreases anoikis and its heterologous expression sensitizes yeast cells to acetic acid-induced programmed cell death.</a> Apoptosis. 19, 1330-1341 (2014).</li><li>Mahato, R. I., Rolland, A., Tomlinson, E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cationic+lipid-based+gene+delivery+systems:+pharmaceutical+perspectives.">Cationic lipid-based gene delivery systems: pharmaceutical perspectives.</a> Pharm Res. 14, 853-859 (1997).</li><li>Su, L. K., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Characterization+of+BRCA2:+temperature+sensitivity+of+detection+and+cell-cycle+regulated+expression.">Characterization of BRCA2: temperature sensitivity of detection and cell-cycle regulated expression.</a> Oncogene. 17, 2377-2381 (1998).</li><li>Laemmli, U. K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cleavage+of+structural+proteins+during+the+assembly+of+the+head+of+bacteriophage+T4.">Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4.</a> Nature. 227, 680-685 (1970).</li><li>Towbin, H., Staehelin, T., Gordon, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Electrophoretic+transfer+of+proteins+from+polyacrylamide+gels+to+nitrocellulose+sheets:+procedure+and+some+applications.">Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets: procedure and some applications.</a> Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 76, 4350-4354 (1979).</li><li>Burnette, W. N. 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E., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Specific+killing+of+BRCA2-deficient+tumours+with+inhibitors+of+poly(ADP-ribose)+polymerase.">Specific killing of BRCA2-deficient tumours with inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase.</a> Nature. 434, 913-917 (2005).</li><li>Ihnen, M., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Therapeutic+potential+of+the+poly(ADP-ribose)+polymerase+inhibitor+rucaparib+for+the+treatment+of+sporadic+human+ovarian+cancer.">Therapeutic potential of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor rucaparib for the treatment of sporadic human ovarian cancer.</a> Mol Cancer Ther. 12, 1002-1015 (2013).</li><li>Jeong, J. H., Jo, A., Park, P., Lee, H., Lee, H. 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The authors have nothing to disclose.

Because germline mutations of the BRCA2 gene lead to increased risk of several cancer types, including female and male breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and melanoma 3,4, a number of studies have been undertaken to understand the biological function of the BRCA2 protein. Most of these studies are genetic-based mainly due to technical difficulties in analyzing a giant protein like BRCA2. The method described here for silencing and analyzing BRCA2 protein expression prov...

The BRCA2 (BReast CAncer susceptibility gene-2) gene encodes for a tumor suppressor protein that plays a crucial role in repairing DNA double-strand breaks by regulating the function of the recombinase enzyme Rad51 1. BRCA2 has also been implicated in the modulation of transcription and in cell cycle control 2. Germline mutations in the BRCA2 gene induce an autosomal dominant susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer in women and prostate cancer in men, as well as predisposition to other cancer types 3,4. However, despite the increased risk in developing cancer, BRCA2 mutations that suppress or reduce BRCA2 function may render cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapeutic agents that cause DNA damage 5-7. Sporadic cancers exhibit a low rate of BRCA2 mutations (&#60; 3%) though reduced levels of BRCA2 protein have been detected in some cancer types, suggesting that BRCA2 protein may be lost during tumorigenesis in sporadic cancers through non-mutational-dependent mechanisms 7,8. Thus, it is important to fully understand BRCA2 functions in the context of cancer biology as well as in other biological settings.
A powerful tool used to identify novel functions of a gene in mammalian cells is to silence its expression. As an example, silencing BRCA2 expression in a variety of normal epithelial cells has recently led to the identification of a novel function of BRCA2 as regulator of anoikis resistance, an important step during acquisition of cancer cell invasive and metastatic ability 9. Gene silencing can be achieved by introducing in the cells either small interfering (si) RNA or short hairpin (sh) RNA molecules targeting the specific gene. The high potency of siRNA and its ease of use make it the preferential tool for silencing experiments aimed at gaining new insights into critical biological processes and to identify novel therapeutic targets. However, efficient knockdown of gene expression may not be easily achievable for all genes and may be highly variable depending on the cell type. Because a decrease in intracellular protein levels is the most relevant phenotype under investigation, it is crucial to quantify gene silencing by immunoblotting analysis of the gene product. With this respect, the BRCA2 protein presents a further challenge: being a large protein (approximately 390 kDa), technical difficulties do exist for conventional biochemical analysis, including immunoblotting.
We report here a protocol optimized for efficient silencing of BRCA2 in human epithelial cell lines and for rapid and successful detection of BRCA2 protein knockdown by immunoblotting analysis.

<table><tbody><tr><td>BRCA2 siRNA</td><td>Dharmacon</td><td>L-003462-00</td><td>SMARTpool: ON-TARGETplus BRCA2 siRNA</td></tr><tr><td>Ctrl siRNA</td><td>Dharmacon</td><td>&amp;nbsp;D-001810-10-05</td><td>ON-TARGETplus Non-targeting Pool</td></tr><tr><td>Lipofectamine RNAiMAX Reagent&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lifetechnologies.com/order/catalog/product/13778075&quot;&gt;13778075&lt;/a&gt;</td><td>Transfection Reagent</td></tr><tr><td>OPTI-MEM I Reduced Serum Medium</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>31985-070</td><td>Medium for transfection procedure</td></tr><tr><td>NuPAGE Tris-Acetate 3-8% 1,5 mm Gel precast</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>EA0378</td><td>Gel for protein electrophoresis</td></tr><tr><td>NuPAGE LDS Sample buffer&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>NP0007</td><td>Reagent for protein electrophoresis</td></tr><tr><td>NuPAGE Sample Reducing agent (10x)</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>NP0004</td><td>Reagent for protein electrophoresis</td></tr><tr><td>NuPAGE Antioxidant</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>NP0005</td><td>Reagent for protein electrophoresis</td></tr><tr><td>HiMark Pre-stained protein standard</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>LC5699</td><td>Prestained marker for gel electrophoresis</td></tr><tr><td>XCell SureLoc Mini-Cell&amp;nbsp; System</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>EI0002</td><td>Equipment for protein electrophoresis/transfer</td></tr><tr><td>NuPAGE Tris-Acetate SDS Running Buffer</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>LA0041</td><td>Reagent for Western blotting</td></tr><tr><td>PVDF membrane</td><td>Millipore</td><td>IPVH00010</td><td>Reagent for Western blotting</td></tr><tr><td>NuPAGE Transfer Buffer</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>NP0006-1</td><td>Reagent for Western blotting</td></tr><tr><td>BRCA2 H-300 rabbit polyclonal antibody</td><td>Santa Cruz Biotechnology</td><td>sc-8326</td><td>1:300 dilution</td></tr><tr><td>Beta-tubulin monoclonal antibody</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>T4026-100UL</td><td>1:1,000 dilution</td></tr><tr><td>Skim Milk powder</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>70166</td><td>Reagent for Western blotting</td></tr><tr><td>Tween-20</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>P1379</td><td>Reagent for Western blotting</td></tr><tr><td>SuperSignal West Pico/Femto Chemiluminescent Substrate</td><td>Pierce Thermo Scientific</td><td>34080/34096</td><td>Chemiluminescence system</td></tr><tr><td>PNT1A cells</td><td>SIGMA Aldrich (for ECACC)</td><td>95012614</td><td>PNT1A human, normal prostate epithelium immortalized with SV40</td></tr><tr><td>Nthy cells</td><td>SIGMA Aldrich (for ECACC)</td><td>90011609</td><td>Nthy-ori 3-1 Cell Line human, thyroid follicular epithelial cells</td></tr><tr><td>Cell Proliferation Kit I (MTT)</td><td>Roche</td><td>11465007001</td><td>Kit for cell proliferation assays</td></tr></tbody></table>

silencing of brca2 to identify novel brca2-regulated biological functions in cultured human cells

Silencing of the tumor suppressor protein BRCA2 and its detection by conventional biochemical analyses represent a great technical challenge owing to the large size of the human BRCA2 protein (approximately 390 kDa). We report modifications of standard siRNA transfection and immunoblotting protocols to silence human BRCA2 and detect endogenous BRCA2 protein, respectively, in human epithelial cell lines. Key steps include a high siRNA to transfection reagent ratio and two subsequent rounds of siRNA transfection within the same experiment. Using these and other modifications to the standard protocol we consistently achieve more than 70% silencing of the human BRCA2 gene as judged by immunoblotting analysis with anti-BRCA2 antibodies. In addition, denaturation of the cell lysates at 55 &#176;C instead of the conventional 70-100 &#176;C and other technical optimizations of the immunoblotting procedure allow detection of intact BRCA2 protein even when very low amounts of starting material are available or when BRCA2 protein expression levels are very low. Efficient silencing of BRCA2 in human cells offers a valuable strategy to disrupt BRCA2 function in cells with intact BRCA2, including tumor cells, to examine new molecular pathways and cellular functions that may be affected by pathogenic BRCA2 mutations in tumors. Adaptation of this protocol for efficient silencing and analysis of other &#39;large&#39; proteins like BRCA2 should be readily achievable.

Before proceeding with a biological/biochemical assay to examine the effect of BRCA2 silencing on cell functions, the first step is to confirm the specificity of the silencing by using a scrambled siRNA (non-targeting siRNA) side by side with BRCA2 siRNA (Figure 1A). It is important to perform a second round of siRNA transfection with a high siRNA/transfection ratio to get a high efficiency of BRCA2 silencing. Indeed, performing only one round of siRNA transfection or using a lower siRN...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Silencing of BRCA2 to Identify Novel BRCA2-regulated Biological Functions in Cultured Human Cells at JoVE.com

Silencing of BRCA2 to Identify Novel BRCA2-regulated Biological Functions in Cultured Human Cells

Gene silencing by siRNA represents a convenient experimental strategy to analyze BRCA2-dependent biological functions with immediate implications to better understand cancer biology. A method to efficiently silence BRCA2, along with the experimental procedure to detect and quantify changes in BRCA2 protein expression by immunoblotting in human cell lines, is presented.

Silencing of BRCA2 to Identify Novel BRCA2-regulated Biological Functions in Cultured Human Cells

Silencing of the tumor suppressor protein BRCA2 and its detection by conventional biochemical analyses represent a great technical challenge owing to the ...

silencing-brca2-to-identify-novel-brca2-regulated-biological

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9.0K Views.  National Research Council. Gene silencing by siRNA represents a convenient experimental strategy to analyze BRCA2-dependent biological functions with immediate implications to better understand cancer biology. A method to efficiently silence BRCA2, along with the experimental procedure to detect and quantify changes in BRCA2 protein expression by immunoblotting in human cell lines, is presented. 

Video: Silencing of BRCA2 to Identify Novel BRCA2-regulated Biological Functions in Cultured Human Cells

Utilizing Functional Genomics Screening to Identify Potentially Novel Drug Targets in Cancer Cell Spheroid Cultures

The identification of functional driver events in cancer is central to furthering our understanding of cancer biology and indispensable for the discovery of the next generation of novel drug targets. It is becoming apparent that more complex models of cancer are required to fully appreciate the contributing factors that drive tumorigenesis in vivo and increase the efficacy of novel therapies that make the transition from pre-clinical models to clinical trials.
Here we present a methodology for generating uniform and reproducible tumor spheroids that can be subjected to siRNA functional screening. These spheroids display many characteristics that are found in solid tumors that are not present in traditional two-dimension culture. We show that several commonly used breast cancer cell lines are amenable to this protocol. Furthermore, we provide proof-of-principle data utilizing the breast cancer cell line BT474, confirming their dependency on amplification of the epidermal growth factor receptor HER2 and mutation of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-biphosphate 3-kinase (PIK3CA) when grown as tumor spheroids. Finally, we are able to further investigate and confirm the spatial impact of these dependencies using immunohistochemistry.

Identifying novel drug targets that transition from pre-clinical testing to human trials is a scientific priority. To that end, here we describe a functional genomics approach for examining the impact of gene depletion on cancer cell line spheroids, which more appropriately model human cancers in vivo.

The identification of functional driver events in cancer is central to furthering our understanding of cancer biology and indispensable for the discovery ...

Cancer Research

Functional Assessment of BRCA1 variants using CRISPR-Mediated Base Editors

Recent studies have investigated the risks associated with BRCA1 gene mutations using various functional assessment methods such as fluorescent reporter assays, embryonic stem cell viability assays, and therapeutic drug-based sensitivity assays. Although they have clarified a lot of BRCA1 variants, these assays involving the use of exogenously expressed BRCA1 variants are associated with overexpression issues and cannot be applied to post-transcriptional regulation. To resolve these limitations, we previously reported a method for functional analysis of BRCA1 variants via CRISPR-mediated cytosine base editor that induce targeted nucleotide substitution in living cells. Using this method, we identified variants whose functions remain ambiguous, including c.-97C&#62;T, c.154C&#62;T, c.3847C&#62;T, c.5056C&#62;T, and c.4986+5G&#62;A, and confirmed that CRISPR-mediated base editors are useful tools for reclassifying the variants of uncertain significance in BRCA1. Here, we describe a protocol for functional analysis of BRCA1 variants using CRISPR-based cytosine base editor. This protocol provides guidelines for the selection of target sites, functional analysis and evaluation of BRCA1 variants.

Functional Assessment of BRCA1 variants using CRISPR-Mediated Base Editors

People with BRCA1 mutations have a higher risk of developing cancer, which warrants accurate evaluation of the function of BRCA1 variants. Herein, we described a protocol for functional assessment of BRCA1 variants using CRISPR-mediated cytosine base editors that enable targeted C:G to T:A conversion in living cells.

Recent studies have investigated the risks associated with BRCA1 gene mutations using various functional assessment methods such as fluorescent reporter ...

Isolation and Functional Assessment of Human Breast Cancer Stem Cells from Cell and Tissue Samples

Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are cancer cells with inherited or acquired stem cell-like characteristics. Despite their low frequency, they are major contributors to breast cancer initiation, relapse, metastasis and therapy resistance. It is imperative to understand the biology of breast cancer stem cells in order to identify novel therapeutic targets to treat breast cancer. Breast cancer stem cells are isolated and characterized based on expression of unique cell surface markers such as CD44, CD24 and enzymatic activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). These ALDHhighCD44+CD24- cells constitute the BCSC population and can be isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for downstream functional studies. Depending on the scientific question, different in vitro and in vivo methods can be used to assess the functional characteristics of BCSCs. Here, we provide a detailed experimental protocol for isolation of human BCSCs from both heterogenous populations of breast cancer cells as well as primary tumor tissue obtained from breast cancer patients. In addition, we highlight downstream in vitro and in vivo functional assays including colony forming assays, mammosphere assays, 3D culture models and tumor xenograft assays that can be used to assess BCSC function.

This experimental protocol describes the isolation of BCSCs from breast cancer cell and tissue samples as well as the in vitro and in vivo assays that can be used to assess BCSC phenotype and function.

Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are cancer cells with inherited or acquired stem cell-like characteristics. Despite their low frequency, they are major ...

Profiling of Estrogen-regulated MicroRNAs in Breast Cancer Cells

Estrogen plays vital roles in mammary gland development and breast cancer progression. It mediates its function by binding to and activating the estrogen receptors (ERs), ER&#945;, and ER&#946;. ER&#945; is frequently upregulated in breast cancer and drives the proliferation of breast cancer cells. The ERs function as transcription factors and regulate gene expression. Whereas ER&#945;&#39;s regulation of protein-coding genes is well established, its regulation of noncoding microRNA (miRNA) is less explored. miRNAs play a major role in the post-transcriptional regulation of genes, inhibiting their translation or degrading their mRNA. miRNAs can function as oncogenes or tumor suppressors&#160;and are also promising biomarkers. Among the miRNA assays available, microarray and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) have been extensively used to detect and quantify miRNA levels. To identify miRNAs regulated by estrogen signaling in breast cancer, their expression in ER&#945;-positive breast cancer cell lines were compared before and after estrogen-activation using both the &#181;Paraflo-microfluidic microarrays and Dual Labeled Probes-low density arrays. Results were validated using specific qPCR assays, applying both Cyanine dye-based and Dual Labeled Probes-based chemistry. Furthermore, a time-point assay was used to identify regulations over time. Advantages of the miRNA assay approach used in this study is that it enables a fast screening of mature miRNA regulations in numerous samples, even with limited sample amounts. The layout, including the specific conditions for cell culture and estrogen treatment, biological and technical replicates, and large-scale screening followed by in-depth confirmations using separate techniques, ensures a robust detection of miRNA regulations,&#160;and eliminates false positives and other artifacts. However, mutated or unknown miRNAs, or regulations at the primary and precursor transcript level, will not be detected. The method presented here represents a thorough investigation of estrogen-mediated miRNA regulation.

Molecular signaling through both estrogen and microRNAs are critical in breast cancer development and growth. Estrogen activates the estrogen receptors, which are transcription factors. Many transcription factors can regulate the expression of microRNAs, and estrogen-regulated microRNAs can be profiled using different large-scale techniques.

Estrogen plays vital roles in mammary gland development and breast cancer progression. It mediates its function by binding to and activating the estrogen ...

Medicine

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cancer Drug Sensitization In Vitro and In Vivo

Due to the high level of heterogeneity and mutations inherent in human cancers, single agent therapies, or combination regimens which target the same pathway, are likely to fail. Emphasis must be placed upon the inhibition of pathways that are responsible for intrinsic and/or adaptive resistance to therapy. An active field of investigation is the development and testing of DNA repair inhibitors that promote the action of, and prevent resistance to, commonly used chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We used a novel protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of BRCA2 inhibition as a means to sensitize tumor cells to the DNA damaging drug cisplatin. Tumor cell metabolism (acidification and respiration) was monitored in real-time for a period of 72 hr to delineate treatment effectiveness on a minute by minute basis. In combination, we performed an assessment of metastatic frequency using a chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model of extravasation and invasion. This protocol addresses some of the weaknesses of commonly used in vitro and in vivo methods to evaluate novel cancer therapy regimens. It can be used in addition to common methods such as cell proliferation assays, cell death assays, and in vivo murine xenograft studies, to more closely discriminate amongst candidate targets and agents, and select only the most promising candidates for further development.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cancer Drug Sensitization In Vitro and In Vivo

Here, real-time monitoring of tumor cell metabolism, combined with an in vivo chicken embryo chorio-allantoic membrane (CAM) model of metastasis, are used to evaluate novel anti-cancer targets/agents for their ability to sensitize tumor cells to DNA damaging chemotherapeutics.

Due to the high level of heterogeneity and mutations inherent in human cancers, single agent therapies, or combination regimens which target the same ...

Identifying the Effects of BRCA1 Mutations on Homologous Recombination using Cells that Express Endogenous Wild-type BRCA1

The functional analysis of missense mutations can be complicated by the presence in the cell of the endogenous protein. Structure-function analyses of the BRCA1 have been complicated by the lack of a robust assay for the full length BRCA1 protein and the difficulties inherent in working with cell lines that express hypomorphic BRCA1 protein1,2,3,4,5. We developed a system whereby the endogenous BRCA1 protein in a cell was acutely depleted by RNAi targeting the 3'-UTR of the BRCA1 mRNA and replaced by co-transfecting a plasmid expressing a BRCA1 variant. One advantage of this procedure is that the acute silencing of BRCA1 and simultaneous replacement allow the cells to grow without secondary mutations or adaptations that might arise over time to compensate for the loss of BRCA1 function. This depletion and add-back procedure was done in a HeLa-derived cell line that was readily assayed for homologous recombination activity. The homologous recombination assay is based on a previously published method whereby a recombination substrate is integrated into the genome (Figure 1)6,7,8,9. This recombination substrate has the rare-cutting I-SceI restriction enzyme site inside an inactive GFP allele, and downstream is a second inactive GFP allele. Transfection of the plasmid that expresses I-SceI results in a double-stranded break, which may be repaired by homologous recombination, and if homologous recombination does repair the break it creates an active GFP allele that is readily scored by flow cytometry for GFP protein expression. Depletion of endogenous BRCA1 resulted in an 8-10-fold reduction in homologous recombination activity, and add-back of wild-type plasmid fully restored homologous recombination function. When specific point mutants of full length BRCA1 were expressed from co-transfected plasmids, the effect of the specific missense mutant could be scored. As an example, the expression of the BRCA1(M18T) protein, a variant of unknown clinical significance10, was expressed in these cells, it failed to restore BRCA1-dependent homologous recombination. By contrast, expression of another variant, also of unknown significance, BRCA1(I21V) fully restored BRCA1-dependent homologous recombination function. This strategy of testing the function of BRCA1 missense mutations has been applied to another biological system assaying for centrosome function (Kais et al, unpublished observations). Overall, this approach is suitable for the analysis of missense mutants in any gene that must be analyzed recessively.

We provide a method for testing BRCA1 variants in a tissue culture based assay for homologous recombination repair of DNA damage by depleting endogenous BRCA1 protein from a cell using RNAi and replacing it with a BRCA1 point mutant that contains a coding change.

The functional analysis of missense mutations can be complicated by the presence in the cell of the endogenous protein. Structure-function analyses of the ...

In Vitro Selection of Engineered Transcriptional Repressors for Targeted Epigenetic Silencing

Gene inactivation is instrumental to study gene function and represents a promising strategy for the treatment of a broad range of diseases. Among traditional technologies, RNA interference suffers from partial target abrogation and the requirement for life-long treatments. In contrast, artificial nucleases can impose stable gene inactivation through induction of a DNA double strand break (DSB), but recent studies are questioning the safety of this approach. Targeted epigenetic editing via engineered transcriptional repressors (ETRs) may represent a solution, as a single administration of specific ETR combinations can lead to durable silencing without inducing DNA breaks.
ETRs are proteins containing a programmable DNA-binding domain (DBD) and effectors from naturally occurring transcriptional repressors. Specifically, a combination of three ETRs equipped with the KRAB domain of human ZNF10, the catalytic domain of human DNMT3A and human DNMT3L, was shown to induce heritable repressive epigenetic states on the ETR-target gene. The hit-and-run nature of this platform, the lack of impact on the DNA sequence of the target, and the possibility to revert to the repressive state by DNA demethylation on demand, make epigenetic silencing a game-changing tool. A critical step is the identification of the proper ETRs&#39; position on the target gene to maximize on-target and minimize off-target silencing. Performing this step in the final ex vivo or in vivo preclinical setting can be cumbersome.
Taking the CRISPR/catalytically dead Cas9 system as a paradigmatic DBD for ETRs, this paper describes a protocol consisting of the in vitro screen of guide RNAs (gRNAs) coupled to the triple-ETR combination for efficient on-target silencing, followed by evaluation of the genome-wide specificity profile of top hits. This allows for reduction of the initial repertoire of candidate gRNAs to a short list of promising ones, whose complexity is suitable for their final&#160;evaluation in the therapeutically relevant setting of interest.

In Vitro Selection of Engineered Transcriptional Repressors for Targeted Epigenetic Silencing

Here, we present a protocol for the in vitro selection of engineered transcriptional repressors (ETRs) with high, long-term, stable, on-target silencing efficiency and low genome-wide, off-target activity. This workflow allows for reducing an initial, complex repertoire of candidate ETRs to a short list, suitable for further evaluation in therapeutically relevant settings.

Gene inactivation is instrumental to study gene function and represents a promising strategy for the treatment of a broad range of diseases. Among ...

Bioengineering

siRNA Screening to Identify Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-like System Regulators of Biological Pathways in Cultured Mammalian Cells

Post-translational modification of proteins with ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like molecules (UBLs) is emerging as a dynamic cellular signaling network that regulates diverse biological pathways including the hypoxia response, proteostasis, the DNA damage response and transcription.&#160; To better understand how UBLs regulate pathways relevant to human disease, we have compiled a human siRNA &#8220;ubiquitome&#8221; library consisting of 1,186 siRNA duplex pools targeting all known and predicted components of UBL system pathways. This library can be screened against a range of cell lines expressing reporters of diverse biological pathways to determine which UBL components act as positive or negative regulators of the pathway in question.&#160; Here, we describe a protocol utilizing this library to identify ubiquitome-regulators of the HIF1A-mediated cellular response to hypoxia using a transcription-based luciferase reporter.&#160; An initial assay development stage is performed to establish suitable screening parameters of the cell line before performing the screen in three stages: primary, secondary and tertiary/deconvolution screening. &#160;The use of targeted over whole genome siRNA libraries is becoming increasingly popular as it offers the advantage of reporting only on members of the pathway with which the investigators are most interested.&#160; Despite inherent limitations of siRNA screening, in particular false-positives caused by siRNA off-target effects, the identification of genuine novel regulators of the pathways in question outweigh these shortcomings, which can be overcome by performing a series of carefully undertaken control experiments.

Here, we describe a methodology to perform a targeted siRNA &#8220;ubiquitome&#8221; screen to identify novel ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like regulators of the HIF1A-mediated cellular response to hypoxia.&#160; This can be adapted to any biological pathway where a robust read out of reporter activity is available.

Post-translational modification of proteins with ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like molecules (UBLs) is emerging as a dynamic cellular signaling network that ...

gDNA Enrichment by a Transposase-based Technology for NGS Analysis of the Whole Sequence of BRCA1, BRCA2, and 9 Genes Involved in DNA Damage Repair

The widespread use of Next Generation Sequencing has opened up new avenues for cancer research and diagnosis. NGS will bring huge amounts of new data on cancer, and especially cancer genetics. Current knowledge and future discoveries will make it necessary to study a huge number of genes that could be involved in a genetic predisposition to cancer. In this regard, we developed a Nextera design to study 11 complete genes involved in DNA damage repair. This protocol was developed to safely study 11 genes (ATM, BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, CHEK2, PALB2, RAD50, RAD51C, RAD80, and TP53) from promoter to 3&#39;-UTR in 24 patients simultaneously. This protocol, based on transposase technology and gDNA enrichment, gives a great advantage in terms of time for the genetic diagnosis thanks to sample multiplexing. This protocol can be safely used with blood gDNA.

gDNA Enrichment by a Transposase-based Technology for NGS Analysis of the Whole Sequence of BRCA1, BRCA2, and 9 Genes Involved in DNA Damage Repair

gDNA enrichment for NGS sequencing is an easy and powerful tool for the study of constitutional mutations. In this article, we present the procedure to analyse simply the complete sequence of 11 genes involved in DNA damage repair.

The widespread use of Next Generation Sequencing has opened up new avenues for cancer research and diagnosis. NGS will bring huge amounts of new data on ...

Visualization of DNA Repair Proteins Interaction by Immunofluorescence

Mammalian cells are constantly exposed to chemicals, radiations, and naturally occurring metabolic by-products, which create specific types of DNA insults. Genotoxic agents can damage the DNA backbone, break it, or modify the chemical nature of individual bases. Following DNA insult, DNA damage response (DDR) pathways are activated and proteins involved in the repair are recruited. A plethora of factors are involved in sensing the type of damage and activating the appropriate repair response. Failure to correctly activate and recruit DDR factors can lead to genomic instability, which underlies many human pathologies including cancer. Studies of DDR proteins can provide insights into genotoxic drug response and cellular mechanisms of drug resistance.
There are two major ways of visualizing&#160;proteins in vivo: direct observation, by tagging the protein of interest with a fluorescent protein and following it by live imaging, or indirect immunofluorescence on fixed samples. While visualization of fluorescently tagged proteins allows precise monitoring over time, direct tagging in N- or C-terminus can interfere with the protein localization or function. Observation of proteins in their unmodified, endogenous version is preferred. When DNA repair proteins are recruited to the DNA insult, their concentration increases locally and they form groups, or &#8220;foci&#8221;, that can be visualized by indirect immunofluorescence using specific antibodies.
Although detection of protein foci does not provide a definitive proof of direct interaction, co-localization of proteins in cells indicates that they regroup to the site of damage and can inform of the sequence of events required for complex formation. Careful analysis of foci spatial overlap in cells expressing wild type or mutant versions of a protein can provide precious clues on functional domains important for DNA repair function. Last, co-localization of proteins indicates possible direct interactions that can be verified by co-immunoprecipitation in cells, or direct pulldown using purified proteins.

Following DNA damage, human cells activate essential repair pathways to restore the integrity of their genome. Here, we describe the method of indirect immunofluorescence as a means to detect DNA repair proteins, analyze their spatial and temporal recruitment, and help interrogate protein-protein interaction at the sites of DNA damage.

Silencing of BRCA2 to Identify Novel BRCA2-regulated Biological Functions in Cultured Human Cells

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