Comparative transcriptomic profiling of TRI-LC21 and BEAS-2B cells to investigate SMARCA4-deficient undifferentiated tumor

Due to the limited availability of well-defined in vitro models for this tumor type, we sought to investigate gene expression changes associated with SMARCA4 loss and tumor dedifferentiation. RNA sequencing was performed to compare TRI-LC21 with the normal bronchial epithelial cell line BEAS-2B.

Differential expression analysis revealed extensive transcriptional alterations, including activation of neuron-associated pathways and suppression of interferon and p53 signaling. In addition, TRI-LC21 exhibited decreased expression of epithelial markers and increased expression of stemness- and epithelial–mesenchymal transition-related genes, consistent with a poorly differentiated transcriptional state. These data provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying SMARCA4-deficient tumors and support the utility of TRI-LC21 as an in vitro model for further biological and therapeutic studies.