University of Pittsburgh

Immortalized Breast Cancer Stem Cell Lines for Continuous Self-renewal and Targeted Drug Screening

Unlike traditional methods that yield heterogeneous or transient populations, this technology employs an endogenous stem cell–specific promoter to sustain the undifferentiated state without introducing oncogenic immortalization factors. The GFP reporter offers real-time tracking and precise isolation of true stem-like cells, while the Oct3/4-driven loop ensures long-term maintenance of critical CSC traits. This combination of selective marker-based sorting, promoter-driven self-renewal, and fluorescent tagging sets this method apart, enabling reproducible expansion of authentic breast cancer stem cells for targeted therapeutic development.

Description

This invention provides for compositions of a stably incorporated fragment of a non-protein coding genomic DNA that prevents cancer stem cell differentiation. The immortalized cancer stem cells of the invention are highly enriched, resulting in stable cells that are unable to differentiate beyond the stem cell state, are chemo-resistant, and can be expanded in vitro for various drug discovery and cellular assays.

Applications

CSC drug screening platform
CSC-targeting antibody screening
Anticancer compound discovery assays
Personalized therapy response testing
GFP-labelled CSC assay kits

Advantages

Unlimited expansion of breast cancer stem cells by preventing differentiation
Stable GFP labeling enables easy identification and isolation of CSCs
Consistent, renewable CSC supply for robust drug screening and functional assays
Accelerates development of therapies targeting CSCs to prevent tumor recurrence and metastasis
Improves understanding of breast CSC biology and mechanisms of self-renewal

IP Status

Abandoned - https://patents.google.com/patent/US20110244472A1