Identification of genes modulated by interferon gamma in breast cancer cells

Interferon gamma (IFNγ) plays a context-dependent dual tumor-suppressor and pro-tumorigenic roles in cancer. IFNγ induces morphological changes in breast cancer (BC) cells with or without estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) expression. However, IFNγ-regulated genes in BC cells remain unexplored. Here, we performed a cDNA microarray analysis of MCF-7 (ERα+) and MDA-MB-231 (HER2-/PR-/ERα-) cells with and without IFNγ treatment. We identified specific IFNγ-modulated genes in each cell type, and a small group of genes regulated by IFNγ common in both cell types. IFNγ treatment for an extended time mainly repressed gene expression shared by both cell types. Nonetheless, some of these IFNγ-repressed genes were seemingly deregulated in human mammary tumor samples, along with decreased IFNGR1 (an IFNγ receptor) expression. Thus, IFNγ signaling-elicited anti-tumor activities may be mediated by the downregulation of main IFNγ target genes in BC; however, it may be deregulated by the tumor microenvironment in a tumor stage-dependent manner.