Characterization of immune cell distributions in mouse models of spontaneous breast tumors

Abstract

As immunotherapy grows in popularity as a cancer treatment option, we need to further understand how immune cells interact with the tumor microenvironment and influence tumor progression. The goal of this thesis was to characterize the different immune, cellular, and structural components within the breast tumor tissues of two orthotopic (MCaP0008 and M3C) and one spontaneous (MMTV-PyVT) murine models of immunogenic breast cancer. Identification of the tumor components in question, including CD3+ lymphocytes, CD11b+ myeloid cells, CD31+ endothelial cells, αSMA+ cancer associated fibroblasts, Ki67+ cells, cleaved caspase-3+ cells, collagen-1, and hyaluronan, were done by immunohistochemistry (IHC)-immunofluorescence (IF) staining of frozen tumor tissues with appropriate antibodies and imaging with multispectral confocal microscopy. Quantification and further data analysis were performed using a custom MATLAB program designed by Dr. Mei Rosa Ng. Gaining understanding of these stromal compositions will allow for better utilization of these breast cancer mouse models in future experiments.