PLX122610

GSE139340: Somatic tissue engineering in mouse models reveals an actionable role for WNT pathway alterations in prostate cancer metastasis

• Organsim mouse
• Type RNASEQ
• Target gene
• Project ARCHS4

To study genetic factors that influence the progression and therapeutic response 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. Unexpectedly, a subset of particularly metastatic tumors acquired WNT pathway alterations, which are also associated with metastatic prostate cancer in humans. Harnessing features linked to the EPO-GEMM approach, we validate the WNT pathway as a key event in driving metastatic disease, a finding that we confirm in an orthogonal approach using mouse prostate organoids. Moreover, we show that tumors harboring WNT pathway alterations are sensitive to pharmacological WNT pathway inhibition. Thus, by leveraging the power of EPO-GEMMs, our studies reveal a functional role for WNT signaling in driving prostate cancer metastasis and validate the WNT pathway as an actionable therapeutic target in metastatic prostate cancer. SOURCE: Yu-Jui Ho (hoy@mskcc.org) - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center