Project description:To investigate how pancreatic malignant epithelial cells responded to anti-tumor T-cell immune responses in vivo, RNA-seq was used to examine the gene expression profiles of the mT3-2D-GFP cell line and FACS sorted mT3-2D-GFP cancer cells isolated from WT and SCID tumors.
Project description:To comprehensively assess the immune milieu of WT and SCID mT3-2D tumors, we employed NanoString nCounter immune profiling. The two groups of samples exhibited distinct immune profiles and indicated greater upregulation of immune-related genes in mT3-2D WT tumors than in SCID tumors.
Project description:To determine the influence of in vivo tumor growth and antitumor immune responses on the generation of tumor neoepitopes, we performed whole exome sequencing (WES) on the mT3-2D cell line, WT tumors and SCID tumors
Project description:Background & Aims: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) are characterized by fibrosis and an abundance of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). We investigated strategies to disrupt interactions among CAFs, the immune system, and cancer cells, focusing on adhesion molecule cadherin 11 (CDH11), which has been associated with other fibrotic disorders and is expressed by activated fibroblasts. Methods: We compared levels of CDH11 mRNA in human pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer tissues and cells, compared with normal pancreas, and measured levels of CDH11 protein in human and mouse pancreatic lesions and normal tissues. We crossed p48-Cre;LSL-KrasG12D/+;LSL-Trp53R172H/+ (KPC) mice with CDH11-knockout mice and measured survival times of offspring. Pancreata were collected and analyzed by histology, immunohistochemistry, and (single-cell) RNA sequencing; RNA and proteins were identified by imaging mass cytometry. Some mice were given injections of PD1 antibody or gemcitabine and survival was monitored. Pancreatic cancer cells from KPC mice were subcutaneously injected into Cdh11+/+ and Cdh11–/– mice and tumor growth was monitored. Pancreatic cancer cells (mT3) from KPC mice (C57BL/6), were subcutaneously injected into Cdh11+/+ (C57BL/6J) mice and mice were given injections of antibody against CDH11, gemcitabine, or small molecule inhibitor of CDH11 (SD133) and tumor growth was monitored. Results: Levels of CDH11 mRNA and protein were significantly higher in CAFs than in pancreatic cancer epithelial cells, human or mouse pancreatic cancer cell lines, or immune cells. KPC/Cdh11+/– and KPC/Cdh11–/– mice survived significantly longer than KPC/Cdh11+/+ mice. Markers of stromal activation entirely surrounded pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias in KPC/Cdh11+/+ mice and incompletely in KPC/Cdh11+/– and KPC/Cdh11–/– mice, whose lesions also contained fewer FOXP3+ cells in the tumor center. Compared with pancreatic tumors in KPC/Cdh11+/+ mice, tumors of KPC/Cdh1+/– mice had increased markers of antigen processing and presentation; more lymphocytes and cytokines associated with lymphocyte infiltration; decreased extracellular matrix components; and reductions in markers and cytokines associated with immunosuppression. Administration of the PD1 antibody did not prolong survival of KPC mice with 0, 1, or 2 alleles of Cdh11. Gemcitabine extended survival only of KPC/Cdh11+/– and KPC/Cdh11–/– mice or reduced subcutaneous tumor growth in mT3 engrafted Cdh11+/+ mice given in combination with the CDH11 antibody. A small molecule inhibitor of CDH11 reduced growth of pre-established mT3 subcutaneous tumors only if T and B cells were present in mice. Conclusions: Knockout or inhibition of CDH11, which is expressed by CAFs in the pancreatic tumor stroma, reduces growth of pancreatic tumors, increases their response to gemcitabine, and significantly extends survival of mice. CDH11 promotes immunosuppression and extracellular matrix deposition, and might be developed as a therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer.
Project description:Recently, Bailey et al (2016, Nature) defined four subtypes of pancreatic cancer that are associated with distinct histopathological characteristics and differential survival, namely, Squamous, Pancreatic Progenitor, Immunogenic, and ADEX (Aberrantly Differentiated Endocrine eXocrine). We set out to assess by RNASeq whether loss of CXCR2 was significantly associated with a specific PDAC subtype. Pancreatic tumors were harvested from KPC or KPC Cxcr2-/- mice at endpoint (n=5 v 5), RNA prepared, and RNASeq analysis carried out. Reads were analysed using the bcbio-nextgen framework (https://bcbio-nextgen.readthedocs.org/en/latest/). After quality control and adaptor trimming, reads were aligned to the mouse genome build (UCSC mouse mm10) using STAR. Counts for known genes were generated using the function featureCounts in the R/Bioconductor package \Rsubread\. The R/Bioconductor package edgeR was used to identify differentially expressed genes.