Neutrophils alter the metabolic profile of a coculture model of triple-negative breast cancer and stromal cells.

Authors

Anna Thunström Salzer, Chloe Williams, Samuel Skoluda, Marios Stylianou, Jonathan D Gilthorpe, Constantin F Urban

Published in

BMC cancer. Volume 26. Issue 1. Oct 22, 2026. Epub Oct 22, 2026.

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer types. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), one of the most lethal breast cancer subtypes, is characterized by substantial neutrophil accumulation in the tumor microenvironment (TME), although the impact of neutrophils on disease progression remains unclear.
To model interactions between cancer cells and stromal cells, we used a coculture system combining a TNB Ccell line with breast fibroblasts and exposed these cultures to neutrophils isolated from healthy donors.
Coculture generated a pro-inflammatory environment, with increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines resembling cytokine profiles reported in cancer patients. Coculture-conditioned medium attracted neutrophils and activated them to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). Coculture also altered metabolic activity, as measured by the Seahorse Extracellular Flux Assay, compared with the corresponding monocultures.
Adding neutrophils to the coculture increased mitochondrial activity, suggesting that neutrophils may promote a metabolic shift in the coculture system: Together, our results support further investigation of neutrophil-driven changes in energy metabolism in TNBC microenvironments.

PMID:
42919246
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.