This study was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute (R01CA166376 and R01CA191489 to D.X. Nguyen) and the Department of Defense (W81XWH-16-1-0227 to D.X. Nguyen).

All experiments were carried out in accordance with protocols approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Yale University.
1. Set Up / Preparation of the Reagents.
<ol>
	<li>Bleomycin 
	Caution: Based on the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, bleomycin is classified as a GHS08 health hazard.
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare bleomycin in a chemical hood. Resuspend 15 U into 5 mL of sterile phosphate buffered salin...

<ol>
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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Striking clinical parallels have been documented between lung cancer and other chronic diseases of the lung36. In particular, patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have an increased predilection for developing lung cancer, and this association is independent of smoking history37,38. IPF is characterized by progressive destruction of lung architecture and impaired respiratory function through deposition of ECM3...

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide1. Patients with lung cancer eventually succumb from metastasis to distant organs, notably to the central nervous system, liver, adrenal glands, and bones2,3,4. Thoracic malignancies have been traditionally classified as small cell lung cancer (SCLC) or non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)5. NSCLC is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy and can be subdivided into different histological subtypes, including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC)6. Genomic analysis of resected human primary lung cancers has revealed that tumors within a given histotype can also express diverse molecular perturbations, further contributing to their divergent clinical progression and confounding patient prognosis. The remarkable heterogeneity of lung cancers represents a significant challenge to the rational design, pre-clinical testing, and implementation of effective therapeutic strategies. Consequently, there is a need to expand the repertoire of tractable experimental lung cancer models to study the diverse cellular origins, molecular subtypes, and stages of this disease.
Various approaches using animal models have been employed to study lung cancer in vivo, each with their own advantages and disadvantages depending on the biological question(s) of interest. Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) can target specific genetic alterations in a given progenitor cell type, resulting in tumors that progress within an immunocompetent host7. While extremely powerful and clinically relevant, the latency, variability, and/or lung tumor morbidity associated with GEMMs can be prohibitive to certain quantitative measurements and the detection of late stage metastasis in distant organs8. A complementary approach is the use of allograft models, whereby lung cancer cells, obtained either directly from a mouse tumor or derived first as established cell lines in culture, are re-introduced into syngeneic hosts. Analogously, lung cancer xenografts are established from human cell lines or patient derived tumor samples. Human cell line xenografts or patient derived xenografts (PDXs) are generally maintained in immunocompromised mice and therefore preclude complete immune-surveillance9. Despite this drawback, they provide an avenue to propagate limiting amounts of human biospecimens and study fundamental in vivo properties of human cancer cells, which encode for more complex genomic aberrations than GEMM tumors.
One useful property of allografts and xenografts is that they are amenable to traditional limiting cell dilution assays, employed to quantify the frequency of tumor initiating cells (TICs) within a malignant cell population10. In these experiments, a defined number of cells are injected subcutaneously into the flank of animals and the frequency of TICs can be estimated based on tumor take rate. Subcutaneous tumors however can be more hypoxic11 and may not model key physiological constraints of the lung tumor microenvironment. Intratracheal delivery of epithelial stem or progenitor cells into the lungs of mice is a method to study pulmonary regeneration and airway stem cell biology12. However, the engraftment rate from this technique can be relatively low, unless the lungs are first subjected to physiological forms of injury, such as viral infection13,14. Support from inflammatory stromal cells and/or the disruption of the lung basement membrane may improve retention of transplanted cells into relevant stem cell niches in the distal airways15. Fibrosis inducing agents can also pre-condition the lungs to enhance engraftment of induced pluripotent cells16 and mesenchymal stem cells17. Whether similar forms of airway injury can affect the engraftment rate, tumor initiating capacity, and outgrowth of lung cancer cells has yet to be systematically assessed.
In this study, we describe a method to increase the efficiency of orthotopic lung cancer cell engraftment, by pre-conditioning the lungs of mice with injury. LUAD arises in the distal airways with a significant subset of these cancers developing a fibrotic stroma18 that often correlates with poor prognosis19. Bleomycin, a natural nonribosomal hybrid peptide-polyketide, has been extensively utilized to induce pulmonary fibrosis in mice20. Airway instillation of bleomycin first promotes epithelial attrition in the alveoli and recruitment of inflammatory cells, including macrophages, neutrophils and monocytes21. This is followed by tissue remodeling in the distal airways, basement membrane reorganization22,23 and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition24. The effects of a single bleomycin injection are transient, with fibrosis resolving after 30 days in most studies25. Using both allograft and xenograft models, we tested if pre-conditioning the airways of mice with bleomycin could significantly increase the take rate of LUAD cells in the lungs.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Bleomycin</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>B5507-15UN</td>
			<td>CAUTION Health hazard GHS08</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Exel Catheter 24G</td>
			<td>Fisher</td>
			<td>1484121</td>
			<td>Remove needle. For intratracheal injection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ketamine (Ketaset inl 100 mg/mL C3N 10 mL)</td>
			<td>Butler Schein</td>
			<td>56344</td>
			<td>To anesthetize mice</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Xylazine</td>
			<td>Butler Schein</td>
			<td>33198</td>
			<td>To anesthetize mice</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ketoprofen, 5,000 mg</td>
			<td>Cayman Chemical</td>
			<td>10006661</td>
			<td>Analgesic</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Puralube Veterinary Ophthalmic Ointment</td>
			<td>BUTLER ANIMAL HEALTH COMPANY LLC</td>
			<td>8897</td>
			<td>To prevent eye dryness while under anesthesia</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>D-Luciferin powder</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer Health Sciences Inc</td>
			<td>122799</td>
			<td>For luminescent imaging. Reconstitute powder with PBS for a working concentration of 15mg/mL. Protect from Light</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Rodent Intubation stand</td>
			<td>Braintree Scientific</td>
			<td>RIS-100</td>
			<td>Recommended stand for intratracheal injection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MI-150 ILLUMINATOR 150W MI-150</td>
			<td>DOLAN-JENNER INDUSTRIES</td>
			<td>MI-150 / EEG2823M</td>
			<td>To illuminate and visualize trachea</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Graefe Forceps, 2.75 (7 cm) long serrat</td>
			<td>Roboz</td>
			<td>RS-5111</td>
			<td>For intratracheal injection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Syringe Luer-Lok Sterile 5ml</td>
			<td>BD / Fisher</td>
			<td>309646</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Satiny Smooth by Conair Dual Foil Wet/Dry Rechargeable Shaver</td>
			<td>Conair</td>
			<td>-</td>
			<td>To shave mice</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bonn Scissors, 3.5&#34; straight 15 mm sharp/sharp sure cut blades</td>
			<td>Roboz</td>
			<td>RS-5840SC</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>15 mL conical tube</td>
			<td>BD / Fisher</td>
			<td>352097</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1.5 mL centrifuge tubes</td>
			<td>USA SCIENTIFIC INC</td>
			<td>1615-5500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Vial Scintillation 7 mL Borosilicate Glass GPI</td>
			<td>Fisher</td>
			<td>701350</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Filter pipette tips (200 &#956;L)</td>
			<td>USA SCIENTIFIC INC</td>
			<td>1120-8710</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phosphate Buffered Saline</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>14190-144</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>0.25% Trypsin-EDTA</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>25200-056</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMEM high glucose</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>11965-092</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>RPMI Medium 1640</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>11875-093</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fetal bovine serum USDA</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>10437-028</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin-Streptomycin</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>15140-122</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Amphotericin B</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A2942-20ML</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trypan Blue Stain 0.4%</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>15250-061</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Countess Automated Cell Counter</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>AMQAX1000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Flask T/C 75cm sq canted neck, blue cap</td>
			<td>Fisher / Corning</td>
			<td>353135</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>IVIS Spectrum Xenogen Bioluminiscence</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer Health Sciences Inc</td>
			<td>124262</td>
			<td>For in vivo bioluminescence imaging</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Living image software</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer Health Sciences Inc</td>
			<td>128113</td>
			<td>For in vivo bioluminescence analysis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>XGI-8 Gas Anesthesia System</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer Health Sciences Inc</td>
			<td>118918</td>
			<td>For Isoflurane anesthesia</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>BD Ultra-Fine II Short Needle Insulin Syringe 1 cc. 31 G x 8 mm (5/16 in)</td>
			<td>BD / Fisher</td>
			<td>BD328418</td>
			<td>For retro-orbital luciferin injection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Syringe 1ml</td>
			<td>BD / Fisher</td>
			<td>14-823-434</td>
			<td>For intraperitoneal injections</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>26 G x 1/2 in. needle</td>
			<td>BD / Fisher</td>
			<td>305111</td>
			<td>For intraperitoneal injections</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4% Paraformaldehyde</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>43368-9M</td>
			<td>CAUTION Health hazard GHS07, GHS08. For fixing tissue</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pipet-Lite Pipette, Unv. SL-200XLS+</td>
			<td>METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL</td>
			<td>17014411</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mayer&#39;s Hematoxylin</td>
			<td>ELECTRON MICROSCOPY SCIENCES</td>
			<td>517-28-2</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Eosin Y stain 0.25% (w/v) in 57%</td>
			<td>Fisher</td>
			<td>67-63-0</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Masson Trichrome Stain Kit</td>
			<td>IMEB Inc</td>
			<td>K7228</td>
			<td>For masson trichrome stain to visualize collagen</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Superfrost plus glass slides</td>
			<td>Fisher</td>
			<td>1255015</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>6 well plate</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>C3516</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Universal Mycoplasma Detection Kit</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>30-1012K</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>OCT Embedding compound</td>
			<td>ELECTRON MICROSCOPY SCIENCES</td>
			<td>62550-12</td>
			<td>For embedding tissue for frozen sections</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Leica CM3050 S Research Cryostat</td>
			<td>Leica</td>
			<td>CM3050 S</td>
			<td>To section tissue for staining analysis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Keyence All-in One Fluorescence Microscope</td>
			<td>Keyence</td>
			<td>BZ-X700</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ImageJ</td>
			<td>US National Institutes of Health</td>
			<td>IJ1.46</td>
			<td>http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/ download.html</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Prism 7.0 for Mac OS X</td>
			<td>GraphPad Software, Inc.</td>
			<td>-</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Athymic (Crl:NU(NCr)-Foxn1nu) mice</td>
			<td>Charles River</td>
			<td>NIH-553</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NSG (NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ) mice</td>
			<td>Jackson Laboratories</td>
			<td>5557</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>B6129SF1/J mice</td>
			<td>Jackson Laboratories</td>
			<td>101043</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NIH-H2030 cells</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>CRL-5914</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>368T1</td>
			<td>generously provided by Monte Winslow (Standford University)</td>
			<td>-</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PC9 cells</td>
			<td>Nguyen DX et al. Cell. 2009;138:51&#8211;62</td>
			<td>-</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>H2030 BrM3 cells</td>
			<td>Nguyen DX et al. Cell. 2009;138:51&#8211;62</td>
			<td>-</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

pre-conditioning the airways of mice with bleomycin increases the efficiency of orthotopic lung cancer cell engraftment

Lung cancer is a deadly treatment refractory disease that is biologically heterogeneous. To understand and effectively treat the full clinical spectrum of thoracic malignancies, additional animal models that can recapitulate diverse human lung cancer subtypes and stages are needed. Allograft or xenograft models are versatile and enable the quantification of tumorigenic capacity in vivo, using malignant cells of either murine or human origin. However, previously described methods of lung cancer cell engraftment have been performed in non-physiological sites, such as the flank of mice, due to the inefficiency of orthotopic transplantation of cells into the lungs. In this study, we describe a method to enhance orthotopic lung cancer cell engraftment by pre-conditioning the airways of mice with the fibrosis inducing agent bleomycin. As a proof-of-concept experiment, we applied this approach to engraft tumor cells of the lung adenocarcinoma subtype, obtained from either mouse or human sources, into various strains of mice. We demonstrate that injuring the airways with bleomycin prior to tumor cell injection increases the engraftment of tumor cells from 0-17% to 71-100%. Significantly, this method enhanced lung tumor incidence and subsequent outgrowth using different models and mouse strains. In addition, engrafted lung cancer cells disseminate from the lungs into relevant distant organs. Thus, we provide a protocol that can be used to establish and maintain new orthotopic models of lung cancer with limiting amounts of cells or biospecimen and to quantitatively assess the tumorigenic capacity of lung cancer cells in physiologically relevant settings.

To increase the efficiency of LUAD cancer cell engraftment into the lungs of mice, we developed a protocol that first pre-conditions the airways using bleomycin followed by orthotopic tumor cell injection (Figure 1). We confirmed that even when administered into immunocompromised athymic mice, bleomycin induced transient fibrosis by day 14 as evidenced by loss of airway architecture and increased collagen deposition (Figure 2). G...

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Pre-Conditioning the Airways of Mice with Bleomycin Increases the Efficiency of Orthotopic Lung Cancer Cell Engraftment

We describe a method to significantly enhance orthotopic engraftment of lung cancer cells into the murine lungs by pre-conditioning the airways with injury. This approach may also be applied to study stromal interactions within the lung microenvironment, metastatic dissemination, lung cancer co-morbidities, and to more efficiently generate patient derived xenografts.

Lung cancer is a deadly treatment refractory disease that is biologically heterogeneous. To understand and effectively treat the full clinical spectrum of ...

The overall goal of this procedure is to increase the efficiency of transplanting tumor-initiating lung cancer cells into the airways of mice. This method can help establish new preclinical models in order to answer key questions in cancer biology, including the causes of drug resistance and relationship between fibrosis and lung cancer. The main advantage of this technique is that it increase the transplantation efficiency of tumor-initiating cells into the lungs of a variety of mouse strains.The implications of this technique extend toward therapy, because it enables us to model a greater variety of human lung cancer subtypes, known to have different clinical responses to treatment. For this protocol, the mice must first be injected with bleomycin. Then, after 14 days, the tumor cells are injected.The procedure for both injections is very similar and described here. Two hours prior to the injection, thaw the bleomycin stock on ice and dilute it to the working concentration. Keep it on ice.For a cell bolus, have a cell suspension prepared as described in the text protocol. The procedure time for each mouse is about 10 minutes all together. Be certain to confirm proper anesthesia using a toe pinch, and apply vet ointment to the eyes.At this time, if the mouse has dark hair, then shave the entire rib area both ventrally and dorsally so it can be imaged correctly. Then, place the mouse on the intubation platform by securing it by its front teeth with it's back against the platform. If a cell bolus is to be injected, resuspend it now with gentle trituration.Now illuminate the upper-chest region, open the mouth, and gently pull out the tongue using flat forceps. Prepare an IV catheter for the trachea by removing the needle, then position it over the tracheal opening. Next, insert the catheter into the trachea until the top of the catheter is near the front teeth and illuminate the interior of the catheter to confirm its placement.Then, dispense the 50 microliters of freshly made bleomycin, or cell suspension, directly into the catheter. Wait a few seconds for the entire volume to travel down the catheter. Then, remove the catheter and dispose of it in 10%bleach.If the mouse is not inhaling the liquid, carefully monitor its breathing and adjust the catheter position. If the mouse stops breathing, immediately remove the catheter and allow the mouse to breath before you reinsert the catheter in. After removing the catheter, continue performing the procedure to have five treated mice, still anesthetized, and ready to image.For recovery, place the mouse supine on an IACUC approved heating pad in a recovery cage and monitor it until it has fully recovered. Two or three minutes after injecting the cells, inject 100 microliters of luciferin retro-orbitally, using an insulin needle. Alternate the eye used for injection every imaging session.After waiting at lest two minutes, position up to five mice in an animal bioluminescence imager, in the sternal recumbency position and acquire a dorsal picture using luminescence settings. Under the control panel, adjust the resolution and sensitivity settings, to measure the luminescence of the cells. For most applications, start with three minutes, set the binning to medium, set the f/stop to one, set the field of view to d, and set the subject height to 1.5.If the injection was successful, a signal is detected in the upper chest area in one lung or both lungs. If cells are clustered at the entrance of the trachea, the injection was unsuccessful. After taking the dorsal image, flip the mice and acquire a ventral image and adjust the setting as needed.After imaging, proceed with postoperative care as described in the text protocol. Then, repeat this imaging protocol three days post-engraftment and weekly thereafter. To analyze the images, use a bioluminescence analysis software.First, load all the appropriate images in the series. This section is detailed to one software package. Next, for each mouse, in the first image of the series, create a square region of interest and position it over the upper chest area covering the entire lung region.Then, using a right click, access the copy all regions of interest function, and use this tool to apply the same regions of interest to each image in the group. Then, within each image, tweak the positions of the squares to cover the upper chest of each mouse. Do this for both the ventral and dorsal views.Now, in the upper left corner of the image window, select the photons function. Then select the measure option. The data from the regions of interest is then displayed in an output table as total flux.Analyze this data as needed. When immune compromised, athymic mice were treated with bleomycin. Prior to cell-bolus engraftment, transient fibrosis was observed by day 14 in bleomycin-treated mice, but not vehicle-treated mice.Next, cells from the established human lung cancer cell line, H2030, were delivered intratracheally into the lungs of these mice. After 35 days, bleomycin-treated mice had a high lung-tumor burden. However, in vehicle treated animals, no tumors were detected.The lung-tumor burden was confirmed using histology. Lungs pretreated with vehicle had no evidence of tumor nodules, whereas bleomycin pretreated lungs had large tumor nodules. After transplanting a metastatic H2030 BrM 3 cell line, by 39 to 57 days, bioluminescence was too intense for imaging, so metastasis was analyzed in distant organs ex vivo.Small lesions could be detected in various tissues, suggesting that this method holds promise, to study spontaneously disseminated disease. Once mastered, this technique can be done in 10 minutes per cage of five mice without imaging and 20 minutes per cage when also imaging the mice. While attempting this procedure, it is important to remember to ensure proper insertion of the catheter and to monitor the animal's breathing.Following this procedure, other methods like pharmacological studies or aminoacetic chemistry of harvested tissue can be performed in order to answer additional questions, like how engrafted tumors respond to drugs or characterizing tumor stromal interactions specific to the lungs. After its development, this technique can be applied to different mouse strains and tumor models, including patient-derived xenografts in a physiologically relevant setting. Don't forgot that working with bleomycin can be extremely hazardous and precautions such as manipulation in a biohazard hood and proper disposal should always be taken while performing this procedure.

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13.4K vistas.  Yale University School of Medicine. The overall goal of this procedure is to increase the efficiency of transplanting tumor-initiating lung cancer cells into the airways of mice. This method can help establish new preclinical models in order to answer key questions in cancer biology, including the causes of drug resistance and relationship between fibrosis and lung cancer. The main advantage of this technique is that it increase the transplantation efficiency of tumor-initiating cells into the lungs of a variety of mouse strain...