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. 2007 Jul 27;32(6):351–361. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2184.1999.tb01353.x

Interactions between normal mammary epithelial cells and mammary tumour cells in a model system

L H Quarrie 1,2, J D Pitts 1, M E Finbow 1,✉
PMCID: PMC6496196  PMID: 10646687

Abstract

Abstract. Normal mammary epithelial (NME) cells and MCF‐7 cells aggregate and grow as spheroids when cultured on extracellular matrix derived from Engelbreth/ Holmes/Swarth (EHS) tumour. NME cells stop dividing and differentiate but MCF‐7 cells continue to proliferate, although growth is counterbalanced by cell death. In mixed cultures of NME cells and MCF‐7 cells, the two cell types form mixed aggregates but then segregate to form well separated domains, often joined by only a narrow neck of cells. In these mixed cultures the growth of MCF‐7 cells is inhibited by a factor secreted by NME cells into the medium.

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