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Download PDF - The Pancreapedia

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immunodeficiency) mice, which have a combined T<br />

and B-cell deficiency, and beige nude mice, which<br />

are triple-deficient in T-cells, B-cells and natural<br />

killer cells, have been studied as the host for<br />

human pancreatic cancer 25, 36 . It appears that the<br />

grade of immunodeficiency does not substantially<br />

influence the tumor take and growth. <strong>The</strong><br />

metastatic potential in different hosts, for example,<br />

was found to be cell line dependent and does not<br />

increase as the host becomes more<br />

immunodeficient 37 .<br />

<strong>The</strong> xenograft models can basically be divided into<br />

orthotopic versus ectopic transplantation, and the<br />

use of tumor cell suspension versus whole tumor<br />

fragments. <strong>The</strong> pros and cons of each model are<br />

discussed elsewhere. Injection sites of pancreatic<br />

tumor cells include tissues like the pancreas, liver,<br />

spleen, skin and muscle, or injection into the<br />

vascular system, for example via the dorsal vein of<br />

the tail, the portal vein, intra-arterially or intracardially<br />

36 . Whole tumor fragments are usually<br />

implanted subcutaneously or orthotopically 36 . Hotz<br />

et al. introduced a less traumatic induction<br />

procedure by using micro surgically prepared<br />

tissue pockets within the pancreatic parenchyma<br />

25 .<br />

2d. Transgenic Mice<br />

<strong>The</strong> introduction of genes into the germ lines of<br />

mammals opened up new possibilities for<br />

generating pancreatic cancer models. Different<br />

methods are used to introduce foreign genes,<br />

including the direct micro-injection of recombinant<br />

DNA into the pronucleus of a fertilized egg, the<br />

transfection of embryos with retroviruses, or the<br />

introduction of DNA by viral transduction or<br />

transfection into embryonic stem cells established<br />

in vitro from explanted blastocysts 38, 39 .<br />

Transgenic mice bearing the elastase promoter<br />

SV40 early antigen construct (Ela-1-SV40 T)<br />

develop focal acinar cell proliferative lesions that<br />

develop into carcinomas with a high incidence after<br />

three to six months. This antigen is a potent<br />

oncoprotein that exerts its oncogenic effect by<br />

inactivating the tumor suppressor genes p53 and<br />

Rb 40 . Beside the acinar cell carcinomas, diverse<br />

4<br />

histological types of cancer, including<br />

undifferentiated and islet cell tumors occurred 12 .<br />

<strong>The</strong> RIP1-Tag model is a variation in which the<br />

antigen construct is directed against the β-cells in<br />

the islets of Langerhans 41 . Most of the islets<br />

became hyper plastic and only very few developed<br />

invasive carcinomas 40 . Another strain bearing the<br />

elastase promoter-myc construct (Ela-1-myc)<br />

developed acinar cell carcinomas with areas of<br />

ductal differentiation, but no pure ductal<br />

carcinomas appeared. However, none of the<br />

tumors contained the K-ras mutation 25, 38 .<br />

Another transgenic model was based on an<br />

activated human ras oncogene under the control of<br />

rat elastase I regulating elements 38,42 . This<br />

construct led to the formation of aggressive acinar<br />

cell type adenocarcinomas in the fetal pancreas 38 .<br />

By targeting the expression of transforming growth<br />

factor-α (TGF-α), Sandgren et al. reported the<br />

development of ductal transformation and tubular<br />

complexes composed of acinar cells 43 . Older<br />

animals in this model showed, in some instances,<br />

papillary or cystic carcinoma with ductal markers,<br />

but lacked the K-ras mutation 25 . Other groups<br />

cross-bred TGF-α with Ela-1-myc mice 44 or p53<br />

knockout mice 45 , which increased the susceptibility<br />

and shortened the latency of pancreatic tumors, all<br />

of which showed an acinar cell phenotype.<br />

<strong>The</strong> role of islet cells in pancreatic carcinogenesis<br />

was highlighted in this model by the observation<br />

that isolated islets of juvenile mice infected with the<br />

T-oncogene produced a mixed endocrine-ductal<br />

cell line, the inoculation of which produced welldifferentiated<br />

adenocarcinomas in mice 46 .<br />

Recently, genetically engineered mouse (GEM)<br />

models of pancreatic exocrine cancer have been<br />

developed and used to elucidate mechanisms of<br />

pancreatic carcinogenesis, although the pathology<br />

is somewhat different from human cases 47 . Mouse<br />

models with pancreas-specific expression of<br />

mutant K-ras frequently develop acinar-to-ductal<br />

metaplasia and pancreatic intra-ductal neoplasms<br />

(PanINs), but few pancreatic cancers under normal<br />

conditions 48-50 . Additional alterations in tumor<br />

suppressor genes, such as p16 51 , p53 50 , dpc4 52 ,

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