Project description:The heterotransplantation of human tumors to immune-deprived rodents has become an important preclinical tool for evaluating human tumor biology and responsiveness to therapeutic agents, based on the supposition that they reflect their original human origin. However, we demonstrate that such tumors can in fact change genetically, either by becoming tumors of the animal recipient or by becoming a hybrid of the human tumor and the animal hostâs cells. Three human tumors transplanted to the cheek pouch of golden hamsters resulted in permanently transplantable tumors that metastasize in the hamsters. Based on diverse lines of evidence, these transplants from a human glioblastoma multiforme and two Hodgkin lymphomas were malignant hybrids, showing both human and hamster genes in the malignant tumor cells, while retaining the morphology of the original human tumors. We demonstrate that even after being preserved for over 40 years in paraffin blocks, microarray analysis of RNA from these transplants disclosed over 3000 human genes derived from all 23 human chromosome pairs amongst these tumor transplants. A total of 3759 probe sets (ranging from 1040 to 1303 in each transplant) detected human gene transcripts in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections of the 3 hybrid tumors stored for over 40 years; the probe sets unambiguously map to 3107 unique Human Entrez Gene IDs and are representative of all human chromosomes, although, by karyology, one of the hybrid tumors (GB-749) had a total of 15 human chromosomes in its cells. Among the genes mapped, 39 probe sets, representing transcripts from 33 human genes , were detected in all hybrid tumor samples. Five of these 33 genes encode transcription factors that regulate cell growth and differentiation, five encode cell adhesion and transmigration-associated proteins known to participate in oncogenesis and/or metastasis and invasion, and additional genes encode components of pathways involved with signal transduction, regulation of apoptosis, DNA repair, and multidrug resistance. We posit that in-vivo fusion may disclose genes implicated in tumor progression, as well as gene families coding for the organoid phenotype. Thus, cancer cells can transduce adjacent stromal cells, with the resulting progeny having permanently transcribed genes with malignant and other functions of the donor DNA. Human gene expression profiles were determined by microarray analysis for 3 different Human-Hamster hybrid tumors, two Hodgkin lymphomas (GW-532, GW-584) and a glioblastoma multiforme (GB-749), that were first generated in the hamster cheek pouch after human tumor grafting and then propagated in hamsters and in cell cultures for years. Human gene expression was assessed using total RNA isolated from FFPE samples from GW-532 generations 2 and 34, GW-584 generation 28, and GB-749, in comparison to that for a Hamster control RNA sample isolated from a Hamster melanoma cell line (ATCC CCL-49). Expressed human genes were identified using MAS 5.0 signal expression values and detection P-values in the following manner: 1) Unannotated probe sets, as well as probe sets with no signal value greater than the median signal for AFFX spike-in controls with all Absent Detection Calls, were omitted from further analysis; 2) All remaining signal values for the hamster cell line sample were multiplied by the ratio of the median signal in all FFPE hybrid samples for AFFX spike-in control probe sets called present in all samples divided by the median signal for the same probe sets in the hamster CCL-49 sample; 3) Human transcripts were considered positive in a human-hamster hybrid FFPE sample if (a) a probe set signal exhibited a 2-fold or greater increase in any FFPE hybrid sample compared to the CCL-49 coontrol sample, (b) the fold change was greater than 2 standard deviations for that probe set across the FFPE samples, and (c) was called present (P) or marginal (M) for at least one or more FFPE samples.

Project description:Current knowledge of the molecular regulation of the blastocyst implantation event has been largely derived from studies in the mouse that requires ovarian estrogen for initiation of the implantation event. However, there are species such as the hamster, guinea pig, pig, horse, rhesus monkey and perhaps the human where the blastocyst implantation event initiates only in the progesterone-primed uterus. Despite this fundamental difference in the requirement of ovarian hormones in initiating blastocyst implantation among species, efforts to identify gene networks relevant for the blastocyst implantation event in progesteroneM-bM-^@M-^Sdependent species are limited. In this study, cDNA prepared from RNAs of day 5 blastocyst implantation and interimplantation sites were hybridized with mouse and human oligonucleotide microarray platforms to discern the transcriptional networks underlying the regulation of blastocyst implantation in hamsters. Compared with the inter-implantation site, blastocyst implantation sites showed upregulation and downregulation of a sizable number of genes by both cross-species arrays.The merit of the cross-species hybridization and reliability of the identified up- and down-regulated genes at the implantation sites were validated by detecting differential expression of a few randomly selected genes from both arrays by real-time PCR. Function gene ontology and pathway analysis revealed that differentially expressed genes are associated with several biological events and molecular pathways that are likely to be taking place at the blastocyst implantation site. This is the first study that identified the differential gene expression profile at the blastocyst implantation site of the hamsters, and revealed molecular pathways that are possibly associated with the progesterone-dependent blastocyst implantation process. We used microarrays to detail the expression differences in hamster implantation and interimplantation sites. Total RNAs were prepared from the hamster day 5 blastocyst implantation and interimplantation sites. Three sets of RNAs were isolated from three different animals and were subjected to microarray analysis using Affymetrix mouse and human array platforms.

Project description:Translating findings from animal models to human disease is essential for dissecting disease mechanisms, developing and testing precise therapeutic strategies. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted this need, particularly for models showing disease severity-dependent immune responses. Single-cell transcriptomics (scRNAseq) is well poised to reveal similarities and differences between species at the molecular and cellular level with unprecedented resolution. However, computational methods enabling detailed matching are still scarce. Here, we provide a structured scRNAseq-based approach that we applied to scRNAseq from blood leukocytes originating from humans and hamsters affected with moderate or severe COVID-19. Integration of COVID-19 patient data with two hamster models that develop moderate (Syrian hamster, Mesocricetus auratus) or severe (Roborovski hamster, Phodopus roborovskii) disease revealed that most cellular states are shared across species. A neural network-based analysis using variational autoencoders quantified the overall transcriptomic similarity across species and severity levels, showing highest similarity between neutrophils of Roborovski hamsters and severe COVID-19 patients, while Syrian hamsters better matched patients with moderate disease, particularly in classical monocytes. We further used transcriptome-wide differential expression analysis to identify which disease stages and cell types display strongest transcriptional changes. Consistently, hamster’s response to COVID-19 was most similar to humans in monocytes and neutrophils. Disease-linked pathways found in all species specifically related to interferon response or inhibition of viral replication. Analysis of candidate genes and signatures supported the results. Our structured neural network-supported workflow could be applied to other diseases, allowing better identification of suitable animal models with similar pathomechanisms across species.

Dataset Information

RNA-Seq of hamster PDAC cancer (HapT1 cell line) biopsies taken after treatment with either an IgG control or new hamster specific anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody.

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