Project description:A cell line was derived from a mammary carcinoma in the transgenic FVB/N-Tg(MMTV-ErbB2)NDL2-5Mul mouse. The line, referred to as “NDL(UCD)” is adapted to standard cell culture and can be transplanted into syngeneic FVB/N mice. The line maintains a stable phenotype over multiple in vitro passages and rounds of in vivo transplantation. The cell line exhibits high expression of ErbB2 and ErbB3 and signaling molecules downstream from ErbB2. The line was previously shown to be reactive to anti-immune checkpoint therapy with responses conducive to immunotherapy studies. Here, using both histology/immunophenotyping and gene expression/microarray analysis, we show that the syngeneic transplant tumors elicit an immune reaction in the adjacent stroma, with additional tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. We also show that this immune activating effect is greater in the syngeneic transplants than in the primary tumors arising in the native transgenic mouse. We further analyzed the PD-1 and PD-L-1 expression in the model and found PD-L1 expression in the tumors and in vitro. In conclusion these data document the validity and utility of this cell line for in vivo preclinical immunotherapy trials.
Project description:A cell line was derived from a mammary carcinoma in the transgenic FVB/N-Tg(MMTV-ErbB2)NDL2-5Mul mouse. The line, referred to as “NDL(UCD)” is adapted to standard cell culture and can be transplanted into syngeneic FVB/N mouse. The line maintains stable phenotype over multiple in vitro passages and rounds of in vivo transplantation. The cell line exhibits high expression of ErbB2 and ErbB3 and signaling molecules downstream ErbB2. The line was previously shown to be reactive to anti-immune checkpoint therapy with responses conducive to immunotherapy studies. Here, using both histology/immunophenotyping and gene expression/microarray analysis, we show that the syngeneic transplant tumors elicit an immune reaction in the adjacent stroma, with additional tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. We also show that this immune activating effect is greater in the syngeneic transplants than in the tumors arising in the transgenic mouse. We further analyzed the PD-1 and PD-L-1 expression in the model and found strong PD-L1 expression in the tumors and in vitro. Three distinct transplantable syngenic mouse models of mammary carcinoma were compared to identify differentially expressed genes.
Project description:In order to develop a practical model of breast cancer, with in vitro and syngeneic, immune-intact, in vivo growth capacity, we established a primary cell line derived from a mammary carcinoma in the transgenic FVB/N-Tg(MMTV-ErbB2*)NDL2-5Mul mouse, referred to as "NDLUCD". The cell line is adapted to standard cell culture and can be transplanted into syngeneic FVB/N mice. The line maintains a stable phenotype over multiple in vitro passages and rounds of in vivo transplantation. NDLUCD tumors in FVB/N mice exhibit high expression of ErbB2 and ErbB3 and signaling molecules downstream of ErbB2. The syngeneic transplant tumors elicit an immune reaction in the adjacent stroma, detected and characterized using histology, immunophenotyping, and gene expression. NDLUCD cells also express PD-L1 in vivo and in vitro, and in vivo transplants are reactive to anti-immune checkpoint therapy with responses conducive to immunotherapy studies. This new NDLUCD cell line model is a practical alternative to the more commonly used 4T1 cells, and our previously described FVB/N-Tg(MMTV-PyVT)634Mul derived Met-1fvb2 and FVB/NTg(MMTV-PyVTY315F/Y322F) derived DB-7fvb2 cell lines. The NDLUCD cells have, so far, remained genetically and phenotypically stable over many generations, with consistent and reproducible results in immune intact preclinical cohorts.
Project description:A common cornerstone of preclinical cancer research is the use of syngeneic orthotopic murine tumors as immunocompetent models of human cancers. For glioblastoma research efforts, the GL261 and CT2A lines are frequently used. We systematically characterized these two lines to decipher the cell-intrinsic mechanisms that drive immuno-resistance in CT2A and to define the aspects of human cancer biology that the lines best model. We show that, despite sharing a few canonical genetic or histologic features of human glioblastoma, the transcriptional profiles of GL261 and CT2A tumours most closely resembled those of glioblastomas. CT2A additionally resembled other cancer types transcriptionally, including melanoma. CT2A displayed mesenchymal differentiation, upregulated angiogenesis, and multiple defects in antigen presentation machinery and interferon response pathways. Loss of MHC class I expression was restored in CT2A by interferon-γ treatment, explaining in part the modest efficacy of some immunotherapy combinations for CT2A. Our findings indicate that CT2A may serve as a robust preclinical solid tumor model of adaptive immune resistance.
Project description:The tyrosine kinase ErbB2 positive breast tumors have more aggressive tumor growth, poorer clinical outcome, and more resistance to radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy. A humanized anti-ErbB2 monoclonal antibody Herceptin and a small molecules inhibitor Lapatinib were developed and approved by FDA to treat patients with ErbB2 amplification and overexpression. Unfortunately, most ErbB2+ breast cancers do not respond to Herceptin and Lapatinib, and the majority of responders become resistant within 12 months of initial therapy (defined as secondary drug resistance). Such differences in response to Lapatinib treatment is contributed by substantial heterogeneity within ErbB2+ breast cancers. To address this possibility, we carried out transcriptomic analysis of mammary tumors from genetically diverse MMTV-ErbB2 mice. This will help us to have a better understanding of the heterogeneous response to ErbB2 targeted therapy and permit us to design better and more individualized (personalized) treatment strategies for human ErbB2 positive breast cancer.
Project description:Murine syngeneic tumor models are the cornerstone of novel immuno-oncology (IO)-based therapy development but the molecular and immunological features of these models are still not clearly defined. The translational relevance of differences between the models is not fully understood, impeding appropriate preclinical model selection for target validation, and ultimately hindering drug development. Within a panel of commonly-used murine syngeneic tumor models, we showed variable responsiveness to IO-therapies. We employed aCGH, whole-exome sequencing, exon microarray analysis and flow cytometry to extensively characterise these models and revealed striking differences that may underlie these contrasting response profiles. We identified strong differential gene expression in immune-related pathways and changes in immune cell-specific genes that suggested differences in tumor immune infiltrates between models. We further investigated this using flow cytometry, which showed differences in both the composition and magnitude of the tumor immune infiltrates, identifying models that harbor ‘inflamed’ and ‘non-inflamed’ tumor immune infiltrate phenotypes. Moreover, we found that immunosuppressive cell types predominated in syngeneic mouse tumor models that did not respond to immune-checkpoint blockade, whereas cytotoxic effector immune cells were enriched in responsive models. A cytotoxic cell-rich tumor immune infiltrate has been correlated with increased efficacy of IO-therapy in the clinic and these differences could underlie the varying response profiles to IO-therapy between the syngeneic models. This characterisation highlighted the importance of extensive profiling and will enable investigators to select appropriate models to interrogate the activity of IO-therapies as well as combinations with targeted therapies in vivo.