Abstract B040: Investigating the impact of tumor EMT states on immune cell infiltration in breast cancer
Authors: Lu Hanxu , Bagheri Meisam , Miller Todd , Pattabiraman Diwakar , Christensen Brock 
Published: November 2024

Breast cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers and the second leading cause of women’s cancer death. Although the five-year survival rate for women in the United States with nonmetastatic invasive breast cancer is 90%, this rate drops to less than 30% for those with tumors that have metastasized to distant organs. Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) plays a critical role in tumor metastasis by enabling the loss of epithelial characteristics and the gain of mesenchymal traits, leading to increased cell motility, invasion, and resistance to therapy. Consequently, targeting the EMT process may prevent tumor cell migration and improve patient outcomes. Rather than being a binary switch from an epithelial to a mesenchymal state, cells undergoing EMT can assume a spectrum of intermediate states, some of which may reshape the tumor microenvironment by recruiting pro-tumor immunosuppressive cells, such as regulatory T cells, M2-like macrophages, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells. However, the impact of EMT on the immune composition of the tumor microenvironment and the causative mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using multi-omics approaches in a mouse model of triple-negative breast cancer, we assessed the interaction between tumor and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment driven by the EMT. A heterogeneous mouse breast cancer cell line (4T1) was used to isolate five distinct single-cell-derived clonal populations residing in distinct states within the EMT spectrum. These EMT clones, along with the parental 4T1 cell line, were orthotopically transplanted into the mammary fat pads of BALB/c mice. Primary tumors were subsequently harvested and dissociated for single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) and DNA methylation analysis. Lungs were histologically evaluated for metastases. Tumors derived from an intermediate EMT clone exhibited increased tumor growth kinetics and a higher incidence of metastasis compared to epithelial or mesenchymal clones. In scRNA-seq data, tumors derived from different EMT clones largely retained their original EMT states in vivo and recruited distinct immune cell profiles. DNA methylation analysis further revealed that these tumors displayed unique methylation patterns in EMT-related CpGs. This study introduced a model that captures the complexity of the tumor microenvironment across the EMT spectrum. This was accomplished through immunophenotyping using scRNA-seq and identifying unique epigenetic patterns through DNA methylation. Our findings highlight the potential for distinct immune cell populations to be recruited to tumors in different EMT states, thereby influencing survival and metastasis outcomes. Furthermore, our results open new opportunities for developing cancer combination treatment strategies that target specific tumor-immune cell interactions.

Citation Format: Hanxu Lu, Meisam Bagheri, Todd Miller, Diwakar Pattabiraman, Brock Christensen. Investigating the impact of tumor EMT states on immune cell infiltration in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Tumor-body Interactions: The Roles of Micro- and Macroenvironment in Cancer; 2024 Nov 17-20; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(22_Suppl):Abstract nr B040.