Name: orthotopic transplantation of syngeneic lung adenocarcinoma cells to study pd-l1 expression
Uploaded: 2019-01-19T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Orthotopic Transplantation of Syngeneic Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells to Study PD-L1 Expression at JoVE.com

The authors would like to thank Safia Zahma for her help with the preparation of tissue sections.

All experimental protocols as outlined below follow ethical guidelines and were approved by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy.
NOTE: The protocol here describes an orthotopic transplantation model of mouse lung adenocarcinoma cells into syngeneic recipients. Cells may be isolated from tumor-bearing lungs of KrasLSL-G12D:p53fl/fl (KP) mice7,18, if available in-house, an...

<ol>
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To study lung physiologic and pathologic events in the lung, invasive and non-invasive intratracheal intubation methods for the instillation of various reagents are widely used26,27,28,29,30,31,32. In the cancer field, researchers use the intratracheal (and intranasal) instillation of Cre-re...

Lung cancer is still by far the biggest cancer-related killer in both men and women1. Indeed, according to the American Cancer Society, every year more people die of lung cancer than of breast, prostate, and colon cancer together1. Until recently, the majority of patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is the most abundant subtype of lung cancer, were treated with platinum-based chemotherapy in a first-line setting, mostly with the addition of angiogenesis inhibitors2. Only a subset of patients harbors oncogenic mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), or in ROS1, and can be treated with available targeting drugs3,4. With the advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors, new hope for lung cancer patients has arisen, although until now, only 20&#8211;40% of patients respond to immune therapy5. Hence, further research is required to improve this outcome by fine-tuning immune checkpoint therapy and investigating combinatory treatment options.
To study lung cancer, a vast array of preclinical models are available, including spontaneous models triggered by chemicals and carcinogens and genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) where autochthonous tumors arise following the conditional activation of oncogenes and/or the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes6,7,8. These models are of particular value to investigate fundamental processes in lung tumor development, but they also require extensive mice breeding, and experiments are time-consuming. Therefore, many studies evaluating potential inhibitors take advantage of subcutaneous (patient-derived) xenograft models where human lung cancer cell lines are subcutaneously injected into immunodeficient mice9.
In these models, the micromilieu of tumors is not represented accordingly; hence, researchers also use orthotopic transplantation models, where tumor cells are injected intravenously, intrabronchially, or directly into the lung parenchyma10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20. Some of these methods are technically challenging, difficult to be reproduced, and require intensive training of the researchers.21 Here we adapted a non-invasive orthotopic, intratracheal transplantation method in immunocompetent mice, where tumors develop within 3-5 weeks and exhibit significant similarities to human tumors, to induce the expression of the T-cell suppressor Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on tumor cells.11,12,20 The use of mouse tumor cells derived from GEMM models and syngeneic recipient mice allows proper studying of the tumor microenvironment including immune cells. Furthermore, gene editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9 technology22 can be used in vitro before transplantation which facilitates the investigation of the impact of genetic factors in lung tumorigenesis.

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	<tbody>
		<tr height="23">
			<td height="23" style="height:23px;width:255px;">mouse lung adenocarcinoma cell line</td>
			<td style="width:123px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td style="width:167px;">isolated in house</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="31">
			<td height="31" style="height:31px;width:255px;">C57Bl/6 mice</td>
			<td rowspan="2" style="width:123px;"></td>
			<td rowspan="2" style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td rowspan="2" style="width:167px;">F1 of the cross of the two backgrounds may be used (8-12 weeks)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="32">
			<td height="32" style="height:32px;width:255px;">129S mice</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">RPMI 1640 Medium</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>11544446</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:255px;">Fetal Calf Serum</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>11573397</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">Penicillin/Streptomycin Solution</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>11548876</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">L-Glutamine</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>11539876</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">Trypsin, 0.25% (1X) with EDTA</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>11560626</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:255px;">UltraPure 0.5M EDTA, pH 8.0</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">15575020</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">Ketasol (100 mg/ml Ketamine)</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">Ogris Pharma</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">8-00173</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:255px;">Xylasol (20 mg/ml Xylazine)</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">Ogris Pharma</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">8-00178</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:255px;">BD Insyste (22GA 1.00 IN)</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">BD</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">381223</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:255px;">Blunt forceps</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">Roboz</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">RS8260</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:255px;">Leica CLS150 LED</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">Leica</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">30250004</td>
			<td>Fibre Light Illuminator</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:255px;">Student Iris Scissors</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">Fine Science Tools</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">91460-11</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">DNase I (RNase-Free)</td>
			<td>New England Biolabs</td>
			<td>M0303S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:255px;">Collagenase Type I</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>17100017</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:255px;">ACK Lysing Buffer</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">Lonza</td>
			<td>10-548E</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:255px;">CD274 (PD-L1, B7-H1) Monoclonal Antibody (MIH5), PE-Cyanine7</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">eBioscience</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">25-5982-82</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:255px;">Rat IgG2a kappa Isotype Control, PE-Cyanine7</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">eBioscience</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">25-4321-82</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

orthotopic transplantation of syngeneic lung adenocarcinoma cells to study pd-l1 expression

The use of mouse models is indispensable for studying the pathophysiology of various diseases. With respect to lung cancer, several models are available, including genetically engineered models as well as transplantation models. However, genetically engineered mouse models are time-consuming and expensive, whereas some orthotopic transplantation models are difficult to reproduce. Here, a non-invasive intratracheal delivery method of lung tumor cells as an alternative orthotopic transplantation model is described. The use of mouse lung adenocarcinoma cells and syngeneic graft recipients allows studying tumorigenesis under the presence of a fully active immune system. Furthermore, genetic manipulations of tumor cells before transplantation makes this model an attractive time-saving approach to study the impact of genetic factors on tumor growth and tumor cell gene expression profiles under physiological conditions. Using this model, we show that lung adenocarcinoma cells express increased levels of the T-cell suppressor programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) when grown in their natural environment as compared to cultivation in vitro.

We used the orthotopic transplantation model via intratracheal tumor cell delivery to test whether the tumor microenvironment stimulates PD-L1 expression. Therefore, we isolated mouse lung AC cells from the autochthonous KP model (KP cells), 10 weeks following tumor induction via Cre-recombinase-expressing adenovirus (Ad.Cre) delivery24. Subsequently, we labeled the lung AC cells using a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing lentivirus25</sup...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Orthotopic Transplantation of Syngeneic Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells to Study PD-L1 Expression at JoVE.com

Orthotopic Transplantation of Syngeneic Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells to Study PD-L1 Expression

Here we describe a minimally invasive syngeneic orthotopic transplantation model of mouse lung adenocarcinoma cells as a time- and cost-reducing model to study non-small cell lung cancer.

The use of mouse models is indispensable for studying the pathophysiology of various diseases. With respect to lung cancer, several models are available, ...

The orthotopic transplantation of mouse lung adenocarcinoma cells into syngeneic graft recipients allows the study of tumorigenesis in the presence of a fully active immune system under physiological conditions. Of course, the tumors develop into an immunocompetence mice and this is much more physiological that if you perform a transplant in immunodeficient mice. Gene editing of the tumor cells before a transplantation makes this model a direct and time-saving approach for studying the impact of genetic factors on tumor growth and gene expression profiles.Compared to inducible autochthonous lung tumor models, this method avoids the extensive breeding of mice, and therefore represents a refinement of previous lung cancer mouse models. Before beginning the procedure, use scissors to remove the end of a catheter needle and push the catheter completely over the end of the needle. After confirming a lack of response to toe pinch, apply ointment to the eyes of an anesthetized, synergetic eight to 12 week old mouse and hook the upper incisors over a suture string across an intubation platform with the chest perpendicular to the suture.Place a fiber optic cable between the front limbs to illuminate the chest and carefully open the mouth using disinfected flat forceps to extract the tongue. Look for the emission of white light to locate the larynx, epiglottis, and arytenoid cartilages. Once the opening of the trachea is clearly visible, gently slide the catheter into the trachea, up to but not beyond the bifurcation, to guarantee an even distribution of the lung adenocarcinoma cells within the lungs.Take care that the insertion of the catheter is very smooth. If you feel any resistance, remove the catheter and expose the trachea again to avoid injuring the mouse. Quickly remove the needle from the catheter and check whether the white light can be observed shining through the catheter.To confirm a proper placement of the catheter within the trachea, attach a one milliliter syringe of water to the catheter. The water in the syringe should move rapidly up and down in time with the breathing. Before delivering the cell suspension, warm the cells by hand and load 50 microliters of cells into the catheter.As soon as the suspension is aspirated, attach an empty one milliliter syringe to the catheter and dispense 300 microliters of air into the catheter to ensure a complete distribution of the tumor cells within the lungs. Then gently remove the catheter and place the mouse on a heat pad with monitoring until full recumbency. After the appropriate experimental endpoint, soak the carcass in 70%ethanol and secure the animal to a dissection board.Make a ventral midline incision and gently invert the skin to expose the thoracic wall muscles and the abdominal organs. Use scissors to puncture the diaphragm and to cut the ribs, exposing the thoracic cavity. Cut a small opening in the left ventricle and use a 27 gauge needle to perfuse the lung three times through the right ventricle with six to eight milliliters of ice cold PVS per infusion.After the last perfusion, the lungs should be completely clear of blood and appear white. After harvesting, use scissors to mince the lung tissue into small pieces. Transfer the lung fragments into a two milliliter microcentrifuge tube containing 1.5 milliliters of lung digestion buffer for a 30 to 60 minute incubation at 37 degrees Celsius, with shaking.At the end of the digestion, transfer the cell suspension through a 70 micron cell strainer into a 50 milliliter tube and use the end of a sterile 10-milliliter syringe plunger to press any remaining tissue fragments through the filter. Rinse the strainer with 15 milliliters of PVS, supplemented with 2%FCS. And collect the cells by centrifugation.Re-suspend the pellet in one milliliter of ammonium chloride potassium lysis buffer for a five minute incubation at room temperature and centrifuge the cells again. Then re-suspend the white blood cell pellet in one milliliter of PVS supplemented with 2%FCS and stain the cells for flow cytometric analysis according to the experimental protocol. As expected, the survival of the recipient mice is correlated to the number of engrafted cells.And the lungs harvested at the time of death demonstrate an even distribution of tumor nodules throughout all of the lobes. When comparing sections from lungs harboring autochthonous tumors, with tumors following orthotopically transplanted lung tumor cells, no morphological differences are observed. Flow cytometric analysis of PD-L1 expression of lung cells isolated three weeks after orthotopic tumor cell transplantation into immunocompetent mice, as just demonstrated, reveals up-regulation in PD-L1 cell surface marker expression, compared to in-vitro cultured lung tumor cells.Following orthotopic transplantation, other analytical methods can be applied, including immunohistochemical analysis, and mRNA profiling to address additional experimental questions.

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Research

JoVE Journal

Cancer Research

Conditional Knockdown of Gene Expression in Cancer Cell Lines to Study the Recruitment of Monocytes/Macrophages to the Tumor Microenvironment

siRNA and shRNA-mediated knock down (KD) methods of regulating gene expression are invaluable tools for understanding gene and protein function. However, in the case that the KD of the protein of interest has a lethal effect on cells or the anticipated effect of the KD is time-dependent, unconditional KD methods are not appropriate. Conditional systems are more suitable in these cases and have been the subject of much interest. These include Ecdysone-inducible overexpression systems, Cytochrome P-450 induction system1, and the tetracycline regulated gene expression systems. 
The tetracycline regulated gene expression system enables reversible control over protein expression by induction of shRNA expression in the presence of tetracycline. In this protocol, we present an experimental design using functional Tet-ON system in human cancer cell lines for conditional regulation of gene expression. We then demonstrate the use of this system in the study of tumor cell-monocyte interaction.

This protocol serves as a scheme for setting up a functional Tet-ON system in cancer cell lines and its subsequent use, in particular for studying the role of tumor cell-derived proteins in recruitment of monocytes/macrophages to the tumor microenvironment.

siRNA and shRNA-mediated knock down (KD) methods of regulating gene expression are invaluable tools for understanding gene and protein function. However, ...

A Syngeneic Pancreatic Cancer Mouse Model to Study the Effects of Irreversible Electroporation

Pancreatic cancer (PC), a disease which kills approximately 40,000 patients each year in the US, has successfully evaded several therapeutic approaches including the promising immunotherapeutic strategies. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a non-thermal ablation technique that induces tumor cell death without destruction of adjacent collagenous structures, thus enabling the procedure to be performed in tumors very close to blood vessels. Unlike thermal ablation techniques, IRE results in gradual apoptotic cell death, along with immediate ablation induced necrosis, and is currently in clinical use for selected patients with locally advanced PC. An ablative, non-target specific procedure like IRE can induce a myriad of responses in the tumor microenvironment. A few studies have addressed the effects of IRE on tumor growth in other tumor types, but none have focused on PC. We have developed a syngeneic mouse model of PC in which subcutaneous (SQ) and orthotopic tumors can be successfully treated with IRE in a highly controlled setting, facilitating various longitudinal studies post procedure. This animal model serves as a robust system to study the effects of IRE and ways to improve the clinical efficacy of IRE.

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a non-thermal ablation technique used for the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Being a relatively new technique, the effects of IRE on the tumor growth are poorly understood. We have developed a syngeneic mouse model that facilitates studying the effects of IRE on pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer (PC), a disease which kills approximately 40,000 patients each year in the US, has successfully evaded several therapeutic approaches ...

A Bioluminescent and Fluorescent Orthotopic Syngeneic Murine Model of Androgen-dependent and Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer

Orthotopic tumor modeling is a valuable tool for pre-clinical prostate cancer research, as it has multiple advantages over both subcutaneous and transgenic genetically engineered mouse models. Unlike subcutaneous tumors, orthotopic tumors contain more clinically accurate vasculature, tumor microenvironment, and responses to multiple therapies. In contrast to genetically engineered mouse models, orthotopic models can be performed with lower cost and in less time, involve the use of highly complex and heterogeneous mouse or human cancer cell lines, rather that single genetic alterations, and these cell lines can be genetically modified, such as to express imaging agents. Here, we present a protocol to surgically injecting a luciferase- and mCherry-expressing murine prostate cancer cell line into the anterior prostate lobe of mice. These mice developed orthotopic tumors that were non-invasively monitored in vivo and further analyzed for tumor volume, weight, mouse survival, and immune infiltration. Further, orthotopic tumor-bearing mice were surgically castrated, leading to immediate tumor regression and subsequent recurrence, representing castration-resistant prostate cancer. Although technical skill is required to carry out this procedure, this syngeneic orthotopic model of both androgen-dependent and castration-resistant prostate cancer is of great use to all investigators in the field.

The goal of this protocol is to demonstrate the intra-prostatic injection of prostate cancer cells, with subsequent castration. Orthotopic pre-clinical models of androgen-dependent and castration-resistant prostate cancer are critical to study the disease in the context of a clinically relevant tumor microenvironment and an immunocompetent host.

Orthotopic tumor modeling is a valuable tool for pre-clinical prostate cancer research, as it has multiple advantages over both subcutaneous and ...

Immunophenotyping of Orthotopic Homograft (Syngeneic) of Murine Primary KPC Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Flow Cytometry

Homograft (syngeneic) tumors are the workhorse of today&#39;s immuno-oncology (I/O) preclinical research. The tumor microenvironment (TME), particularly its immune-components, is vital to the prognosis and prediction of treatment outcomes, especially those of immunotherapy. TME immune-components are composed of different subsets of tumor-infiltrating immune cells assessable by multi-color FACS. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the deadliest malignances lacking good treatment options, thus an urgent and unmet medical need. One important reason for its non-responsiveness to various therapies (chemo-, targeted, I/O) has been its abundant TME, consisting of fibroblasts and leukocytes that protect tumor cells from these therapies. Orthotopically implanted PDAC is believed to more accurately recapture the TME of human pancreatic cancers than conventional subcutaneous (SC) models.
Homograft tumors (KPC) are transplants of mouse spontaneous PDAC originating from genetically engineered KPC-mice (KrasG12D/+/P53-/-/Pdx1-Cre) (KPC-GEMM). The primary tumor tissue is cut into small fragments (~2 mm3) and transplanted subcutaneously (SC) to the syngeneic recipients (C57BL/6, 7&#8211;9 weeks old). The homografts were then surgically orthotopically transplanted onto the pancreas of new C57BL/6 mice, along with SC-implantation, which reached tumor volumes of 300&#8211;1,000 mm3 by 17 days. Only tumors of 400&#8211;600 mm3 were harvested per approved autopsy procedure and cleaned to remove the adjacent non-tumor tissues. They were dissociated per protocol using a tissue dissociator into single-cell suspensions, followed by staining with designated panels of fluorescently-labeled antibodies for various markers of different immune cells (lymphoid, myeloid and NK, DCs). The stained samples were analyzed using multi-color FACS to determine numbers of immune cells of different lineages, as well as their relative percentage within tumors. The immune profiles of orthotopic tumors were then compared to those of SC tumors. The preliminary data demonstrated significantly elevated infiltrating TILs/TAMs in tumors over the pancreas, and higher B-cell infiltration into orthotopic rather than SC tumors.

Immunophenotyping of Orthotopic Homograft Syngeneic of Murine Primary KPC Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Flow Cytometry

The experimental procedure on the immunophenotyping of murine orthotopic PDAC homografts aims at profiling the tumor immuno-microenvironment. Tumors are orthotopically implanted via surgery. Tumors of 200&#8211;600 mm3 in size were harvested and dissociated to prepare single-cell suspensions, followed by multi-immune marker FACS analysis using different fluorescently-labeled antibodies.

Homograft (syngeneic) tumors are the workhorse of today&#39;s immuno-oncology (I/O) preclinical research. The tumor microenvironment (TME), particularly ...

Using 22C3 Anti-PD-L1 Antibody Concentrate on Biopsy and Cytology Samples from Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Pembrolizumab monotherapy has been approved for the first- and second-line treatment of patients with PD-L1-expressing advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Testing for PD-L1 expression with the PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) 22C3 companion diagnostic assay, which gives a tumor proportion score (TPS), has been validated on tumor tissue. We developed an optimized laboratory-developed test (LDT) that uses the 22C3 antibody (Ab) concentrate on a widely available IHC autostainer for biopsy and cytology specimens. The PD-L1 TPS was evaluated with 120 paired whole-tumor tissue sections and biopsy samples and with 70 paired biopsy and cytology samples (bronchial washes, n = 40; pleural effusions, n = 30). The 22C3 Ab concentrate-based LDT showed a high concordance rate between biopsy (~100%) and cytology (~95%) specimens when compared to PD-L1 IHC expression determined using the PD-L1 IHC 22C3 companion assay at both TPS cut points (&#8805;1%, &#8805;50%). The optimized LDT presented here, using the 22C3 Ab concentrate to determine the PD-L1 expression in both tumor tissue and in cytology specimens, will expand the ability of laboratories worldwide to assess the eligibility of patients with NSCLC for treatment with pembrolizumab monotherapy in a reliable and reproducible manner.

To expand the ability of laboratories worldwide to assess the eligibility of patients with lung cancer for treatment with pembrolizumab, in a reliable and reproducible manner, we developed an assay that uses the 22C3 antibody concentrate on a widely available immunohistochemical autostainer, for both biopsy and cytology specimens.

Pembrolizumab monotherapy has been approved for the first- and second-line treatment of patients with PD-L1-expressing advanced non-small cell lung cancer ...

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Isolation from Pulp Tissue and Co-Culture with Cancer Cells to Study Their Interactions

Cancer as a multistep process and complicated disease is not only regulated by individual cell proliferation and growth but also controlled by tumor environment and cell-cell interactions. Identification of cancer and stem cell interactions, including changes in extracellular environment, physical interactions, and secreted factors, might enable the discovery of new therapy options. We combine known co-culture techniques to create a model system for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cancer cell interactions. In the current study, dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and PC-3 prostate cancer cell interactions were examined by direct and indirect co-culture techniques. Condition medium (CM) obtained from DPSCs and 0.4 &#181;m pore sized trans-well membranes were used to study paracrine activity. Co-culture of different cell types together was performed to study direct cell-cell interaction. The results revealed that CM increased cell proliferation and decreased apoptosis in prostate cancer cell cultures. Both CM and trans-well system increased cell migration capacity of PC-3 cells. Cells stained with different membrane dyes were seeded into the same culture vessels, and DPSCs participated in a self-organized structure with PC-3 cells under this direct co-culture condition. Overall, the results indicated that co-culture techniques could be useful for cancer and MSC interactions as a model system.

We provide protocols for evaluation of mesenchymal stem cells isolated from dental pulp and prostate cancer cell interactions based on direct and indirect co-culture methods. Condition medium and trans-well membranes are suitable to analyze indirect paracrine activity. Seeding differentially stained cells together is an appropriate model for direct cell-cell interaction.

Cancer as a multistep process and complicated disease is not only regulated by individual cell proliferation and growth but also controlled by tumor ...

Semi-automatic PD-L1 Characterization and Enumeration of Circulating Tumor Cells from Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients by Immunofluorescence

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) derived from the primary tumor are shed into the bloodstream or lymphatic system. These rare cells (1&#8722;10 cells per mL of blood) warrant a poor prognosis and are correlated with shorter overall survival in several cancers (e.g., breast, prostate and colorectal). Currently, the anti-EpCAM-coated magnetic bead-based CTC capturing system is the gold standard test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for enumerating CTCs in the bloodstream. This test is based on the use of magnetic beads coated with anti-EpCAM markers, which specifically target epithelial cancer cells. Many studies have illustrated that EpCAM is not the optimal marker for CTC detection. Indeed, CTCs are a heterogeneous subpopulation of cancer cells and are able to undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) associated with metastatic proliferation and invasion. These CTCs are able to reduce the expression of cell surface epithelial marker EpCAM, while increasing mesenchymal markers such as vimentin. To address this technical hurdle, other isolation methods based on physical properties of CTCs have been developed. Microfluidic technologies enable a label-free approach to CTC enrichment from whole blood samples. The spiral microfluidic technology uses the inertial and Dean drag forces with continuous flow in curved channels generated within a spiral microfluidic chip. The cells are separated based on the differences in size and plasticity between normal blood cells and tumoral cells. This protocol details the different steps to characterize the programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression of CTCs, combining a spiral microfluidic device with customizable immunofluorescence (IF) marker set.

The characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is a popular topic in translational research. This protocol describes a semi-automatic immunofluorescence (IF) assay for PD-L1 characterization and enumeration of CTCs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient samples.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) derived from the primary tumor are shed into the bloodstream or lymphatic system. These rare cells (1&#8722;10 cells per mL ...

Ultrasound-Guided Orthotopic Implantation of Murine Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

The recent success of immune checkpoint blockade in melanoma and lung adenocarcinoma has galvanized the field of immuno-oncology as well as revealed the limitations of current treatments, as the majority of patients do not respond to immunotherapy. Development of accurate preclinical models to quickly identify novel and effective therapeutic combinations are critical to address this unmet clinical need. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a canonical example of an immune checkpoint blockade resistant tumor with only 2% of patients responding to immunotherapy. The genetically engineered KrasG12D+/-;Trp53R172H+/-;Pdx-1 Cre (KPC) mouse model of PDA recapitulates human disease and is a valuable tool for assessing therapies for immunotherapy resistant in the preclinical setting, but time to tumor onset is highly variable. Surgical orthotopic tumor implantation models of PDA maintain the immunobiological hallmarks of the KPC tissue-specific tumor microenvironment (TME) but require a time-intensive procedure and introduce aberrant inflammation. Here, we use an ultrasound-guided orthotopic tumor implantation model (UG-OTIM) to non-invasively inject KPC-derived PDA cell lines directly into the mouse pancreas. UG-OTIM tumors grow in the endogenous tissue site, faithfully recapitulate histological features of the PDA TME, and reach enrollment-sized tumors for preclinical studies by four weeks after injection with minimal seeding on the peritoneal wall. The UG-OTIM system described here is a rapid and reproducible tumor model that may allow for high throughput analysis of novel therapeutic combinations in the murine PDA TME.

We describe a protocol for the ultrasound guided implantation of murine-derived pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell lines directly into the native tumor site. This approach resulted in pancreatic tumors detectable by ultrasound scanning within 2-4 weeks of injection, and significantly reduced the proportion tumor cell seeding on the peritoneal wall as compared to surgical orthotopic implantation.

The recent success of immune checkpoint blockade in melanoma and lung adenocarcinoma has galvanized the field of immuno-oncology as well as revealed the ...

A Syngeneic Orthotopic Osteosarcoma Sprague Dawley Rat Model with Amputation to Control Metastasis Rate

The most recent advance in the treatment of osteosarcoma (OS) occurred in the 1980s when multi-agent chemotherapy was shown to improve overall survival compared to surgery alone. To address this problem, the aim of the study is to refine a lesser-known model of OS in rats with a comprehensive histologic, imaging, biologic, implantation, and amputation surgical approach that prolongs survival. We used an immunocompetent, outbred Sprague-Dawley (SD), syngeneic rat model with implanted UMR106 OS cell line (originating from a SD rat) with orthotopic tibial tumor implants into 3-week-old male and female rats to model pediatric OS. We found that rats develop reproducible primary and metastatic pulmonary tumors, and that limb amputations at 3 weeks post implantation significantly reduce the incidence of pulmonary metastasis and prevent unexpected deaths. Histologically, the primary and metastatic OSs in rats were very similar to human OS. Using immunohistochemistry methods, the study shows that rat OS are infiltrated with macrophages and T cells. A protein expression survey of OS cells reveals that these tumors express ErbB family kinases. Since these kinases are also highly expressed in most human OSs, this rat model could be used to test ErbB pathway inhibitors for therapy.

Here, a syngeneic orthotopic implantation followed by an amputation procedure of the osteosarcoma with spontaneous pulmonary metastasis that can be used for preclinical investigation of metastasis biology and development of novel therapeutics is described.

The most recent advance in the treatment of osteosarcoma (OS) occurred in the 1980s when multi-agent chemotherapy was shown to improve overall survival ...

Intratibial Osteosarcoma Cell Injection to Generate Orthotopic Osteosarcoma and Lung Metastasis Mouse Models

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone cancer in children and adolescents, with lungs as the most common metastatic site. The five-year survival rate of osteosarcoma patients with pulmonary metastasis is less than 30%.Therefore, the utilization of mouse models mimicking the osteosarcoma development in humans is of great significance for understanding the fundamental mechanism of osteosarcoma carcinogenesis and pulmonary metastasis to develop novel therapeutics. Here, detailed procedures are reported to generate the primary osteosarcoma and pulmonary metastasis mouse models via&#160;intratibia injection of osteosarcoma cells. Combined with the bioluminescence or X-ray live imaging system, these living mouse models are utilized to monitor and quantify osteosarcoma growth and metastasis. To establish this model, a basement membrane matrix containing osteosarcoma cells was loaded in a micro-volume syringe and injected into one tibia of each athymic mouse after being anesthetized. The mice were sacrificed when the primary osteosarcoma reached the size limitation in the IACUC-approved protocol. The legs bearing osteosarcoma and the lungs with metastasis lesions were separated. These models are characterized by a short incubation period, rapid growth, severe lesions, and sensitivity in monitoring the development of primary and pulmonary metastatic lesions. Therefore, these are ideal models for exploring the functions and mechanisms of specific factors in osteosarcoma carcinogenesis and pulmonary metastasis, the tumor microenvironment, and evaluating the therapeutic efficacy in vivo.

The present protocol describes intratibia osteosarcoma cell injection to generate mouse models bearing orthotopic osteosarcoma and pulmonary metastasis lesions.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone cancer in children and adolescents, with lungs as the most common metastatic site. The five-year survival ...