TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterization of pancreatic glucagon-producing tumors and pituitary gland tumors in transgenic mice overexpressing MYCN in hGFAP-positive cells
AU - Fielitz, Kathrin
AU - Althoff, Kristina
AU - De Preter, Katleen
AU - Nonnekens, Julie
AU - Ohli, Jasmin
AU - Elges, Sandra
AU - Hartmann, Wolfgang
AU - Klöppel, Günter
AU - Knösel, Thomas
AU - Schulte, Marc
AU - Klein-Hitpass, Ludger
AU - Beisser, Daniela
AU - Reis, Henning
AU - Eyking, Annette
AU - Cario, Elke
AU - Schulte, Johannes H.
AU - Schramm, Alexander
AU - Schüller, Ulrich
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Amplification or overexpression of MYCN is involved in development and maintenance of multiple malignancies. A subset of these tumors originates from neural precursors, including the most aggressive forms of the childhood tumors, neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. In order to model the spectrum of MYCNdriven neoplasms in mice, we transgenically overexpressed MYCN under the control of the human GFAP-promoter that, among other targets, drives expression in neural progenitor cells. However, LSL-MYCN;hGFAP-Cre double transgenic mice did neither develop neural crest tumors nor tumors of the central nervous system, but presented with neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and, less frequently, the pituitary gland. Pituitary tumors expressed chromogranin A and closely resembled human pituitary adenomas. Pancreatic tumors strongly produced and secreted glucagon, suggesting that they derived from glucagon- and GFAP-positive islet cells. Interestingly, 3 out of 9 human pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors expressed MYCN, supporting the similarity of the mouse tumors to the human system. Serial transplantations of mouse tumor cells into immunocompromised mice confirmed their fully transformed phenotype. MYCN-directed treatment by AuroraA- or Brd4-inhibitors resulted in significantly decreased cell proliferation in vitro and reduced tumor growth in vivo. In summary, we provide a novel mouse model for neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and pituitary gland that is dependent on MYCN expression and that may help to evaluate MYCN-directed therapies.
AB - Amplification or overexpression of MYCN is involved in development and maintenance of multiple malignancies. A subset of these tumors originates from neural precursors, including the most aggressive forms of the childhood tumors, neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. In order to model the spectrum of MYCNdriven neoplasms in mice, we transgenically overexpressed MYCN under the control of the human GFAP-promoter that, among other targets, drives expression in neural progenitor cells. However, LSL-MYCN;hGFAP-Cre double transgenic mice did neither develop neural crest tumors nor tumors of the central nervous system, but presented with neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and, less frequently, the pituitary gland. Pituitary tumors expressed chromogranin A and closely resembled human pituitary adenomas. Pancreatic tumors strongly produced and secreted glucagon, suggesting that they derived from glucagon- and GFAP-positive islet cells. Interestingly, 3 out of 9 human pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors expressed MYCN, supporting the similarity of the mouse tumors to the human system. Serial transplantations of mouse tumor cells into immunocompromised mice confirmed their fully transformed phenotype. MYCN-directed treatment by AuroraA- or Brd4-inhibitors resulted in significantly decreased cell proliferation in vitro and reduced tumor growth in vivo. In summary, we provide a novel mouse model for neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and pituitary gland that is dependent on MYCN expression and that may help to evaluate MYCN-directed therapies.
KW - Glucagonoma
KW - MYCN
KW - Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84996848697&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.18632/oncotarget.12766
DO - 10.18632/oncotarget.12766
M3 - Article
C2 - 27769070
AN - SCOPUS:84996848697
SN - 1949-2553
VL - 7
SP - 74415
EP - 74426
JO - Oncotarget
JF - Oncotarget
IS - 46
ER -