Open AccessCharacterization of a transgenic mouse model exhibiting spontaneous lung adenocarcinomas with a metastatic phenotype
Author(s) -
Hsuen Wen Chang,
Zih Miao Lin,
Min Wu,
Li Yu Wang,
YenHung Chow,
Shih Sheng Jiang,
Hui-Wen Chang,
Vincent Chang
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0175586
Subject(s) - adenocarcinoma , transcriptome , phenotype , biology , carcinogenesis , metastasis , cancer research , genetically modified mouse , lung cancer , pathology , lung , epithelial–mesenchymal transition , cancer , transgene , gene , medicine , gene expression , genetics
Developing lung cancer in mouse models that display similarities of both phenotype and genotype will undoubtedly provide further and better insights into lung tumor biology. Moreover, a high degree of pathophysiological similarity between lung tumors from mouse models and their human counterparts will make it possible to use these mouse models for preclinical tests. Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinomas (OPAs) present the same symptoms as adenocarcinomas in humans and are caused by a betaretrovirus. OPAs have served as an exquisite model of carcinogenesis for human lung adenocarcinomas. In this study, we characterized the histopathology and transcriptome profiles of a jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV)-envelope protein (Env) transgenic mouse model with spontaneous lung tumors, and associations of the transcriptome profiles with tumor invasion/metastasis, especially the phenomenon of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Genetic information obtained from an expression array was analyzed using an ingenuity pathways analysis (IPA) and human disease database (MalaCards). By careful examination, several novel EMT-related genes were identified from tumor cells using RT-qPCR, and these genes also scored high in MalaCards. We concluded that the JSRV-Env mouse model could serve as a spontaneous lung adenocarcinoma model with a metastatic phenotype, which will benefit the study of early-onset and progression of lung adenocarcinoma. In addition, it can also be a valuable tool for biomarkers and drug screening, which will be helpful in developing intervention therapies.