Project description:This project describes the establishment and validation of a murine orthotopic xenograft model using fresh human tumor samples that recapitulates the critical components of human pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The authors discuss the proven and theoretical advantages of the model as well as future translational implications. Background: Relevant preclinical models that recapitulate the key features of human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are needed in order to provide biologically tractable models to probe disease progression and therapeutic responses and ultimately improve patient outcomes for this disease. Here, we describe the establishment and clinical, pathological, molecular and genetic validation of a murine, orthotopic xenograft model of PDAC. Methods: Human PDACs were resected and orthotopically implanted and propagated in immunocompromised mice. Patient survival was correlated with xenograft growth and metastatic rate in mice. Human and mouse tumor pathology were compared. Tumors were analyzed for genetic mutations, gene expression, receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) activation, and cytokine expression. Results: Fifteen human PDACs were propagated orthotopically in mice. Xenografts developed peritoneal and liver metastases. Time to growth and metastatic efficiency in mice each correlated with patient survival. Tumor architecture, nuclear grade and stromal content were similar in patient and xenografted tumors. Propagated tumors closely exhibited the genetic and molecular features known to characterize pancreatic cancer (e.g. high rate of KRAS, p53, SMAD4 mutation and EGFR activation). The correlation coefficient of gene expression between patient tumors and xenografts propagated through multiple generations was 93 to 99%. Analysis of gene expression demonstrated distinct differences between xenografts from fresh patient tumors versus commercially available PDAC cell lines. Conclusions: Our orthotopic xenograft model derived from fresh human PDACs closely recapitulates the clinical, pathologic, genetic and molecular aspects of human disease. This model has resulted in the identification of rational therapeutic strategies to be tested in clinical trials and will permit additional therapeutic approaches and identification of biomarkers of response to therapy. 47 Samples in total were generated for normal pancreatic tissue in patients, pancreatic tumors in patients, pancreatic tumors propagated in a mouse xenograft model, and pancreatic cancer cell lines in vitro. Clustering analysis was performed to evaluate the differences between patient tumors, xenograft tumors, established cancer cell lines, and cell lines derived from xenografts.

Project description:This project describes the establishment and validation of a murine orthotopic xenograft model using fresh human tumor samples that recapitulates the critical components of human pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The authors discuss the proven and theoretical advantages of the model as well as future translational implications. Background: Relevant preclinical models that recapitulate the key features of human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are needed in order to provide biologically tractable models to probe disease progression and therapeutic responses and ultimately improve patient outcomes for this disease. Here, we describe the establishment and clinical, pathological, molecular and genetic validation of a murine, orthotopic xenograft model of PDAC. Methods: Human PDACs were resected and orthotopically implanted and propagated in immunocompromised mice. Patient survival was correlated with xenograft growth and metastatic rate in mice. Human and mouse tumor pathology were compared. Tumors were analyzed for genetic mutations, gene expression, receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) activation, and cytokine expression. Results: Fifteen human PDACs were propagated orthotopically in mice. Xenografts developed peritoneal and liver metastases. Time to growth and metastatic efficiency in mice each correlated with patient survival. Tumor architecture, nuclear grade and stromal content were similar in patient and xenografted tumors. Propagated tumors closely exhibited the genetic and molecular features known to characterize pancreatic cancer (e.g. high rate of KRAS, p53, SMAD4 mutation and EGFR activation). The correlation coefficient of gene expression between patient tumors and xenografts propagated through multiple generations was 93 to 99%. Analysis of gene expression demonstrated distinct differences between xenografts from fresh patient tumors versus commercially available PDAC cell lines. Conclusions: Our orthotopic xenograft model derived from fresh human PDACs closely recapitulates the clinical, pathologic, genetic and molecular aspects of human disease. This model has resulted in the identification of rational therapeutic strategies to be tested in clinical trials and will permit additional therapeutic approaches and identification of biomarkers of response to therapy.

Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality among adults in developed countries. The discovery of the most common genetic alterations as well as the development of organoids models of pancreatic cancer have provided insight into the fundamental pathways driving the progression from normal cell, to non-invasive precursor lesion, to widely metastatic disease, offering new opportunities for the discovery of key activated pathways along cancer progression. Obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Several epidemiological studies have shown the positive association between obesity and cancer-related morbidity/mortality, as well as poor prognosis and poorer treatment outcome. Despite strong evidence indicates a link between obesity and cancer incidence, the molecular basis of the initiating events remains largely elusive. This is mainly due to the lack of an accurate and reliable model of pancreatic carcinogenesis that mimics human obesity-associated PDAC, making data interpretation difficult and often confusing. Here we propose, to our knowledge, the best suitable and manageable preclinical tool, based on next-generation cell culture models, to study the effects of obesity on pancreatic carcinogenesis. Therefore we tracked the effects of obesity on the natural evolution of PDAC in a genetically-defined transplantable model of syngeneic murine pancreatic preneoplastic lesion (mP) and tumor (mT) derived organoids that recapitulates the progression of human disease from early preinvasive lesions to metastatic disease. Our models indicated that both genetic- and diet-induced obesity promoted incidence engraftment rate and growth of both preneoplastic and neoplastic organoids, favoring pancreatic cancer progression and distant metastases dissemination. Our obesity models of carcinogenesis mimic the evolution of human pancreatic cancer pathology, promoting carcinogenesis and concomitant accumulation of a myeloid infiltrate. These changes in cancer immune infiltrate were also associated to a specific pattern of anti-inflammatory Th2 signature. Moreover, gene expression profile analysis revealed a change in gene expression programs that addresses cells to different pancreatic subtypes and stromal conditions. Our results suggest that organoid-derived transplants in obese mice represent a suitable system to study early step of carcinogenesis and support the hypothesis that inflammation induced by obesity stimulates tumor progression and metastatization during pancreatic carcinogenesis.

Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a major unsolved health problem. Most drugs that pass preclinical tests fail in these patients, emphasizing the need of appropriate preclinical models to test novel anticancer strategies. We developed four orthotopic mouse models employing primary human PDAC cells expressing Firefly and Gaussia luciferases, enabling bioluminescence monitoring of tumor growth and metastasis formation. Additional tumor characterization was performed using MR and high frequency ultrasound imaging. Genomic and immunohistochemical analysis revealed c-Met amplification and overexpression in one of four models. Analysis of c-Met inhibitors in vitro showed that crizotinib had the most potent effect. Moreover, we demonstrated synergistic effects between crizotinib and gemcitabine M-bM-^@M-^S the standard of care therapeutic in PDAC patients - in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, crizotinib reduced the cytidine deaminase activity in PDAC cells causing prolonged activity of gemcitabine due to diminished metabolic inactivation, as measured by LC-MS/MS. This might at least in part explain the observed prolonged survival of concomitantly treated mice with PDAC tumors and metastases. In conclusion, our orthotopic PDAC models enabled PDAC tumor imaging, and showed genetic, histopathological and metastatic features similar to their originator tumors. This allowed the identification of c-Met as a potential therapeutic target in PDAC, and revealed a cytidine deaminase-mediated synergistic mechanism between crizotinib and gemcitabine, a combination of drugs that warrants further investigation for the potential treatment of PDAC patients. 12 test samples in total [4 PDAC models (PDAC-1, PDAC-2, PDAC-3, PDAC-4; in three panel: primary human PDAC, primary tumor culture and mouse sample)] and reference sample (healthy control (mix/pool of healthy volunteers DNA) were analyzed as following (8 hybridizations); PDAC-1 primary human-Cy3 vs PDAC-4 cultured cells -Cy5 PDAC-1 cultured cells-Cy3 vs PDAC-4 mouse-Cy5 PDAC-1 mouse-Cy3 vs reference-Cy5 PDAC-2 primary human-Cy3 vs reference-Cy5 PDAC-2_cultured cells-Cy3 vs PDAC-2 mouse-Cy5 PDAC-3_primary human-Cy3 vs reference-Cy5 PDAC-3_cultured cells-Cy3 vs PDAC-3 mouse-Cy5 PDAC-4 primary human-Cy5 vs reference-Cy3 Normalized log2 ratio of (sample/references) data were calculated for 12 samples [*txt files on Series records]. Description of experimental/analysis design in r-program to generate 12 samples from 8 raw data files is provided in README.txt [Series supplementary file]

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Patient-derived orthotopic xenograft models recapitulate the peritoneal dissemination of pancreatic cancer and delineate its transcriptional and regulatory programs [scRNA-seq]

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