Somatic tissue engineering in mouse models reveals an actionable role for WNT pathway alterations in prostate cancer metastasis Journal Article


Authors: Leibold, J.; Ruscetti, M.; Cao, Z.; Ho, Y. J.; Baslan, T.; Zou, M.; Abida, W.; Feucht, J.; Han, T.; Barriga, F. M.; Tsanov, K. M.; Zamechek, L.; Kulick, A.; Amor, C.; Tian, S.; Rybczyk, K.; Salgado, N. R.; Sánchez-Rivera, F. J.; Watson, P. A.; de Stanchina, E.; Wilkinson, J. E.; Dow, L. E.; Abate-Shen, C.; Sawyers, C. L.; Lowe, S. W.
Article Title: Somatic tissue engineering in mouse models reveals an actionable role for WNT pathway alterations in prostate cancer metastasis
Abstract: To study genetic factors influencing the progression and therapeutic responses of advanced prostate cancer, we developed a fast and flexible system that introduces genetic alterations relevant to human disease directly into the prostate glands of mice using tissue electroporation. These electroporation-based genetically engineered mouse models (EPO-GEMM) recapitulate features of traditional germline models and, by modeling genetic factors linked to late-stage human disease, can produce tumors that are metastatic and castration-resistant. A subset of tumors with Trp53 alterations acquired spontaneous WNT pathway alterations, which are also associated with metastatic prostate cancer in humans. Using the EPO-GEMM approach and an orthogonal organoid-based model, we show that WNT pathway activation drives metastatic disease that is sensitive to pharmacologic WNT pathway inhibition. Thus, by leveraging EPO-GEMMs, we reveal a functional role for WNT signaling in driving prostate cancer metastasis and validate the WNT pathway as therapeutic target in metastatic prostate cancer. SIGNIFICANCE: Our understanding of the factors driving metastatic prostate cancer is limited by the paucity of models of late-stage disease. Here, we develop EPO-GEMMs of prostate cancer and use them to identify and validate the WNT pathway as an actionable driver of aggressive metastatic disease.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 890. ©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.
Journal Title: Cancer Discovery
Volume: 10
Issue: 7
ISSN: 2159-8274
Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research  
Date Published: 2020-07-01
Start Page: 1038
End Page: 1057
Language: English
DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.Cd-19-1242
PUBMED: 32376773
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC7334089
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 3 August 2020 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Charles L Sawyers
    226 Sawyers
  2. Philip A Watson
    26 Watson
  3. Scott W Lowe
    251 Lowe
  4. Wassim Abida
    158 Abida
  5. Zhen Cao
    22 Cao
  6. Sha Tian
    14 Tian
  7. Timour Baslan
    46 Baslan
  8. Judith Carolin Feucht
    23 Feucht
  9. Amanda Kulick
    24 Kulick
  10. Josef Leibold
    16 Leibold
  11. Yu-jui Ho
    41 Ho
  12. Francisco M Barriga
    13 Barriga
  13. Kaloyan M Tsanov
    8 Tsanov