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Modeling Molecular Pathogenesis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis-Associated Lung Cancer in Mice

ABSTRACT: Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by progressive, often fatal loss of lung function due to overactive collagen production and tissue scarring. IPF patients have a sevenfold-increased risk of developing lung cancer. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of patients with lung diseases, and infection can worsen prognoses for those with chronic lung diseases and disease-associated cancer. Understanding the molecular pathogenesis of IPFassociated lung cancer is imperative for identifying diagnostic biomarkers and targeted therapies that will facilitate prevention of IPF and progression to lung cancer. To understand how IPF-associated fibroblast activation, matrix remodeling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and immune modulation influences lung cancer predisposition, we developed a mouse model to recapitulate the molecular pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis-associated lung cancer using the bleomycin and Lewis Lung Carcinoma models. We demonstrate that development of pulmonary fibrosis-associated lung cancer is likely linked to increased abundance of tumor-associated macrophages and a unique gene signature that supports an immune-suppressive microenvironment through secreted factors. Not surprisingly, pre-existing fibrosis provides a pre-metastatic niche and results in augmented tumor growth, and tumors associated with bleomycin-induced fibrosis are characterized by a dramatic loss of cytokeratin expression, indicative of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Implications: This characterization of tumors associated with lung diseases provides new therapeutic targets that may aid in the development of treatment paradigms for lung cancer patients with pre-existing pulmonary diseases.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE224134 | GEO | 2023/06/20

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Intratracheal application of bleomycin is known to induce inflammatory and fibrotic reactions in the lung within a short period of time and histological features include infiltration of inflammatory cells, collagen deposition and obliteration of alveolar spaces. Because some of these features are found in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis animal model is commonly used. However, exploratory treatments that were successfully used in this animal model and progressed to clinical trials lacked significant efficacy in humans. Here, the bleomycin-induced rat lung fibrosis model was studied using whole genome expression data that was collected at various time points and the relevance to human disease was evaluated through comparison with whole genome expression data from IPF patient-derived lung biopsies. The highest gene expression correlation between both species was observed in animals 7 days after bleomycin instillation. These gene expression signatures helped to identify a set of twelve novel disease-relevant translational gene markers that were able to separate IPF patients from controls. Furthermore, three Wnt/-catenin pathway-related genes that belong to this translational gene marker set showed, together with clinical diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) measurements, the potential to stratify IPF patients according to disease severity. Pirfenidone attenuated a subset of the translational gene markers in the bleomycin-induced fibrosis model, in particular those related to Wnt/-catenin-signaling. This novel translational gene marker panel offers improved possibilities to evaluate disease-modifying efficacy of novel therapeutic concepts in the bleomycin-induced rat lung fibrosis model and could be applied as a diagnostic and prognostic tool for IPF patient care. Comparison of bleomycin-treated and control rats after 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks; 5 animals per group

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Modeling Molecular Pathogenesis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis-Associated Lung Cancer in Mice

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