Browsing by Author "Fernandez-Zapico, Martin E."

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    Anticachectic regulator analysis reveals Perp-dependent antitumorigenic properties of 3-methyladenine in pancreatic cancer
    (American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2022-01-25) Dasgupta, Aneesha; Arneson-Wissink, Paige C.; Schmitt, Rebecca E.; Cho, Dong Seong; Ducharme, Alexandra M.; Hogenson, Tara L.; Krueger, Eugene W.; Bamlet, William R.; Zhang, Lizhi; Razidlo, Gina L.; Fernandez-Zapico, Martin E.; Doles, Jason D.; Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, School of Medicine
    Approximately 80% of pancreatic cancer patients suffer from cachexia, and one-third die due to cachexia-related complications such as respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. Although there has been considerable research into cachexia mechanisms and interventions, there are, to date, no FDA-approved therapies. A major contributing factor for the lack of therapy options could be the failure of animal models to accurately recapitulate the human condition. In this study, we generated an aged model of pancreatic cancer cachexia to compare cachexia progression in young versus aged tumor-bearing mice. Comparative skeletal muscle transcriptome analyses identified 3-methyladenine (3-MA) as a candidate antiwasting compound. In vitro analyses confirmed antiwasting capacity, while in vivo analysis revealed potent antitumor effects. Transcriptome analyses of 3-MA-treated tumor cells implicated Perp as a 3-MA target gene. We subsequently (a) observed significantly higher expression of Perp in cancer cell lines compared with control cells, (b) noted a survival disadvantage associated with elevated Perp, and (c) found that 3-MA-associated Perp reduction inhibited tumor cell growth. Finally, we have provided in vivo evidence that survival benefits conferred by 3-MA administration are independent of its effect on tumor progression. Taken together, we report a mechanism linking 3-MA to Perp inhibition, and we further implicate Perp as a tumor-promoting factor in pancreatic cancer.
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    Culture media composition influences patient-derived organoid ability to predict therapeutic responses in gastrointestinal cancers
    (American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2022-11-22) Hogenson, Tara L.; Xie, Hao; Phillips, William J.; Toruner, Merih D.; Li, Jenny J.; Horn, Isaac P.; Kennedy, Devin J.; Almada, Luciana L.; Marks, David L.; Carr, Ryan M.; Toruner, Murat; Sigafoos, Ashley N.; Koenig-Kappes, Amanda N.; Olson, Rachel Lo; Tolosa, Ezequiel J.; Zhang, Cheng; Li, Hu; Doles, Jason D.; Bleeker, Jonathan; Barrett, Michael T.; Boyum, James H.; Kipp, Benjamin R.; Mahipal, Amit; Hubbard, Joleen M.; Scheffler Hanson, Temperance J.; Petersen, Gloria M.; Dasari, Surendra; Oberg, Ann L.; Truty, Mark J.; Graham, Rondell P.; Levy, Michael J.; Zhu, Mojun; Billadeau, Daniel D.; Adjei, Alex A.; Dusetti, Nelson; Iovanna, Juan L.; Bekaii-Saab, Tanios S.; Ma, Wen Wee; Fernandez-Zapico, Martin E.; Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: A patient-derived organoid (PDO) platform may serve as a promising tool for translational cancer research. In this study, we evaluated PDO’s ability to predict clinical response to gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. METHODS: We generated PDOs from primary and metastatic lesions of patients with GI cancers, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, colorectal adenocarcinoma, and cholangiocarcinoma. We compared PDO response with the observed clinical response for donor patients to the same treatments. RESULTS: We report an approximately 80% concordance rate between PDO and donor tumor response. Importantly, we found a profound influence of culture media on PDO phenotype, where we showed a significant difference in response to standard-of-care chemotherapies, distinct morphologies, and transcriptomes between media within the same PDO cultures. CONCLUSION: While we demonstrate a high concordance rate between donor tumor and PDO, these studies also showed the important role of culture media when using PDOs to inform treatment selection and predict response across a spectrum of GI cancers.