Patient-derived xenograft models are considered to represent the heterogeneity of human cancers and advanced preclinical models. Our consortium joins efforts to extensively develop and characterize a ...new collection of patient-derived colorectal cancer (CRC) models.
From the 85 unsupervised surgical colorectal samples collection, 54 tumors were successfully xenografted in immunodeficient mice and rats, representing 35 primary tumors, 5 peritoneal carcinoses and 14 metastases. Histologic and molecular characterization of patient tumors, first and late passages on mice includes the sequence of key genes involved in CRC (i.e., APC, KRAS, TP53), aCGH, and transcriptomic analysis.
This comprehensive characterization shows that our collection recapitulates the clinical situation about the histopathology and molecular diversity of CRC. Moreover, patient tumors and corresponding models are clustering together allowing comparison studies between clinical and preclinical data. Hence, we conducted pharmacologic monotherapy studies with standard of care for CRC (5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and cetuximab). Through this extensive in vivo analysis, we have shown the loss of human stroma cells after engraftment, observed a metastatic phenotype in some models, and finally compared the molecular profile with the drug sensitivity of each tumor model. Through an experimental cetuximab phase II trial, we confirmed the key role of KRAS mutation in cetuximab resistance.
This new collection could bring benefit to evaluate novel targeted therapeutic strategies and to better understand the basis for sensitivity or resistance of tumors from individual patients.
Abstract
Somatic mutations in the calreticulin (
CALR
) gene are associated with approximately 30% of essential thrombocythemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis (PMF).
CALR
mutations, including the two ...most frequent 52 bp deletion (
del52
) and 5 bp insertion (
ins5
), induce a frameshift to the same alternative reading frame generating new C-terminal tails. In patients,
del52
and
ins5
induce two phenotypically distinct myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). They are equally found in ET, but
del52
is more frequent in PMF. We generated heterozygous and homozygous conditional inducible knock-in (KI) mice expressing a chimeric murine CALR del52 or ins5 with the human mutated C-terminal tail to investigate their pathogenic effects on hematopoiesis. Del52 induces greater phenotypic changes than ins5 including thrombocytosis, leukocytosis, splenomegaly, bone marrow hypocellularity, megakaryocytic lineage amplification, expansion and competitive advantage of the hematopoietic stem cell compartment. Homozygosity amplifies these features, suggesting a distinct contribution of homozygous clones to human MPNs. Moreover, homozygous
del52
KI mice display features of a penetrant myelofibrosis-like disorder with extramedullary hematopoiesis linked to splenomegaly, megakaryocyte hyperplasia and the presence of reticulin fibers. Overall, modeling
del52
and
ins5
mutations in mice successfully recapitulates the differences in phenotypes observed in patients.
β-thalassemia major (β-TM) is an inherited hemoglobinopathy caused by a quantitative defect in the synthesis of β-globin chains of hemoglobin, leading to the accumulation of free a-globin chains that ...aggregate and cause ineffective erythropoiesis. We have previously demonstrated that terminal erythroid maturation requires a transient activation of caspase-3 and that the chaperone Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70) accumulates in the nucleus to protect GATA-1 transcription factor from caspase-3 cleavage. This nuclear accumulation of HSP70 is inhibited in human β-TM erythroblasts due to HSP70 sequestration in the cytoplasm by free a-globin chains, resulting in maturation arrest and apoptosis. Likewise, terminal maturation can be restored by transduction of a nuclear-targeted HSP70 mutant. Here we demonstrate that in normal erythroid progenitors, HSP70 localization is regulated by the exportin-1 (XPO1), and that treatment of β-thalassemic erythroblasts with an XPO1 inhibitor increased the amount of nuclear HSP70, rescued GATA-1 expression and improved terminal differentiation, thus representing a new therapeutic option to ameliorate ineffective erythropoiesis of β-TM.
RUNX1 encodes a DNA-binding α subunit of the core-binding factor, a heterodimeric transcription factor. RUNX1 is a master regulatory gene in hematopoiesis and its disruption is one of the most common ...aberrations in acute leukemia. Inactivating or dominant-negative mutations in the RUNX1 gene have been also identified in pedigrees of familial platelet disorders with a variable propensity to develop acute myeloid leukemia (FPD/AML). We performed analysis of hematopoiesis from 2 FPD/AML pedigrees with 2 distinct RUNX1 germline mutations, that is, the R139X in a pedigree without AML and the R174Q mutation in a pedigree with AML. Both mutations induced a marked increase in the clonogenic potential of immature CD34+CD38− progenitors, with some self-renewal capacities observed only for R174Q mutation. This increased proliferation correlated with reduction in the expression of NR4A3, a gene previously implicated in leukemia development. We demonstrated that NR4A3 was a direct target of RUNX1 and that restoration of NR4A3 expression partially reduced the clonogenic potential of patient progenitors. We propose that the down-regulation of NR4A3 in RUNX1-mutated hematopoietic progenitors leads to an increase in the pool of cells susceptible to be hit by secondary leukemic genetic events.
Abstract Bone metastases have a devastating impact on quality of life and bone pain in patients with prostate cancer and decrease survival. Animal models are important tools in investigating the ...pathogenesis of the disease and in developing treatment strategies for bone metastases, but few animal models recapitulate spontaneous clinical bone metastatic spread. In the present study, IGR-CaP1, a new cell line derived from primary prostate cancer, was stably transduced with a luciferase-expressing viral vector to monitor tumor growth in mice using bioluminescence imaging. The IGR-CaP1 tumors grew when subcutaneously injected or when orthotopically implanted, reconstituted the prostate adenocarcinoma with glandular acini-like structures, and could disseminate to the liver and lung. Bone lesions were detected using bioluminescence imaging after direct intratibial or intracardiac injections. Anatomic bone structure assessed using high-resolution computed tomographic scans showed both lytic and osteoblastic lesions. Technetium Tc 99m methylene diphosphonate micro single-photon emission computed tomography confirmed the mixed nature of the lesions and the intensive bone remodeling. We also identified an expression signature for responsiveness of IGR-CaP1 cells to the bone microenvironment, namely expression of CXCR4, MMP-9, Runx2, osteopontin, osteoprotegerin, ADAMTS14, FGFBP2, and HBB. The IGR-CaP1 cell line is a unique model derived from a primary tumor, which can reconstitute human prostate adenocarcinoma in animals and generate experimental bone metastases, providing a novel means for understanding the mechanisms of bone metastasis progression and allowing preclinical testing of new therapies.
Bone marrow (BM) niche cells help to keep adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in a quiescent state via secreted factors and induction of cell-cycle inhibitors. Here, we demonstrate that the adapter ...protein CABLES1 is a key regulator of long-term hematopoietic homeostasis during stress and aging. Young mice lacking Cables1 displayed hyperproliferation of hematopoietic progenitor cells. This defect was cell intrinsic, since it was reproduced in BM transplantation assays using wild-type animals as recipients. Overexpression and short hairpin RNA-mediated depletion of CABLES1 protein resulted in p21Cip/waf up- and downregulation, respectively. Aged mice lacking Cables1 displayed abnormalities in peripheral blood cell counts accompanied by a significant reduction in HSC compartment, concomitant with an increased mobilization of progenitor cells. In addition, Cables1−/− mice displayed increased sensitivity to the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil due to an abnormal microenvironment. Altogether, our findings uncover a key role for CABLES1 in HSC homeostasis and stress hematopoiesis.
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•CABLES1 is expressed in immature hematopoietic progenitor cells and niche cells•CABLES1 in an intrinsic negative cell-cycle regulator of hematopoietic progenitor cells•CABLES1 regulates p21Cip/waf protein levels•The abnormal stress responses of Cables1−/− HSC during aging are niche cell dependent
Maintenance of hematopoietic stem cell quiescence is crucial for homeostasis. Using mutant mice and cross-transplant experiments, Louache and colleagues show that the adapter protein CABLES1 is required for stem cell quiescence under transplantation and regulates p21Cip/waf protein level. In addition, CABLES1 is a niche-based regulator of hematopoietic stem cell responses to proliferative stress and during aging.
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play an important role in innate and adaptive immunity, prompting interest in mechanisms controlling the production of this lineage of cells. Notch signaling via ...one of the Notch ligands, delta-like 1 (delta-1), influences the hematopoietic development of several lymphoid and myeloid lineages, but whether or not delta-1 affects the formation of pDCs is unknown and was tested here. Human CD34+ progenitor cells were cultured onto delta-1–expressing OP9 stroma in the presence of flt-3 ligand and IL-7, and this efficiently generated BDCA-2+ CD123+ CD4+ CD11c– cells with the characteristic morphology of pDCs, expressing toll-like receptor-9 (TLR9), pre-Tα mRNAs, and secreting CpG-induced IFN-α. Delta-1 augmented the numbers of BDCA-2+ cells produced without affecting their proliferation, and the effect was blocked by γ-secretase inhibition. The development of pDCs was stroma-, delta-1–, and cytokine-dependent and could be induced from committed lymphoid progenitor cells, which responded to delta-1 by opposite changes in pDC- and B-cell production. Our results identify delta-1 as a novel factor enhancing pDC hematopoiesis and delineate a new role for Notch signaling in lymphopoiesis by showing its opposite effect on pDC and B lineage determination.
Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorder that typically associates with mutations in epigenetic, splicing, and signaling genes. Genetically modified mouse ...models only partially recapitulate the disease phenotype, whereas xenotransplantation of CMML cells in immunocompromised mice has been rarely successful so far. Here, CMML CD34+ cells sorted from patient bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood (PB) were injected intravenously into NSG (NOD/LtSz-scid IL2rγnull) mice and NSG mice engineered to express human granulo-monocyte colony-stimulating factor, stem cell factor, and interleukin-3 (NSGS mice). Fifteen out of 16 patient samples (94%) successfully engrafted into NSG or NSGS or both mouse strains. The expansion of human cells, predominant in the BM, was also observed in the spleen and the PB and was greatly enhanced in mice producing the 3 human cytokines. Gene mutations identified in engrafted cells were mostly similar to those identified in patient cells before injection. Successful secondary engraftment was obtained in NSGS mice in 3 out of 10 attempts. Thus, primary CMML leukemic cells expand much better in NSGS compared with NSG mice with limited efficacy of secondary transplant.
•Transgenic mice expressing 3 human cytokines enable expansion of CMML cells with limited stem cell engraftment.•The mutational profile of CMML cells that expand in mice mirrors that of patient monocytes.
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are characterized by the capacity for self-renewal and the ability to reconstitute the entire hematopoietic compartment. Thrombopoietin maintains adult HSCs in a ...quiescent state through the induction of cell cycle inhibitors p57Kip2 and p19INK4d. Using the p19INK4d−/− mouse model, we investigated the role of p19INK4d in basal and stress-induced hematopoiesis. We demonstrate that p19INK4d is involved in the regulation of HSC quiescence by inhibition of the G0/G1 cell cycle transition. Under genotoxic stress conditions, the absence of p19INK4d in HSCs leads to accelerated cell cycle exit, accumulation of DNA double-strand breaks, and apoptosis when cells progress to the S/G2-M stages of the cell cycle. Moreover, p19INK4d controls the HSC microenvironment through negative regulation of megakaryopoiesis. Deletion of p19INK4d results in megakaryocyte hyperproliferation and increased transforming growth factor β1 secretion. This leads to fibrosis in the bone marrow and spleen, followed by loss of HSCs during aging.
•p19INK4d regulates HSC quiescence through inhibition of the G0/G1 transition•p19INK4d protects HSC from DNA damage and apoptosis during genotoxic stress•Absence of p19INK4d leads to MK amplification, splenomegaly, and fibrosis development•p19INK4d controls HSC pool through microenvironment
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are characterized by the self-renewal capacity and the ability to reconstitute the entire hematopoietic compartment. Raslova and colleagues demonstrate that p19INK4d regulates HSC quiescence through inhibition of the G0/G1 transition and protects HSC from apoptosis during genotoxic stress. They show that p19INK4d controls HSC pool through microenvironment, and its absence leads to MK amplification, splenomegaly, and fibrosis development.
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