Abstract B45: Ductal pancreatic cancer modeling and drug screening using human pluripotent stem cell and patient-derived tumor organoids

Abstract There are few in vitro models of exocrine pancreas development and primary human pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We establish three-dimensional culture conditions to induce the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) into exocrine progenitor organoids that form ductal and acinar structures in culture and in vivo. Expression of mutant KRAS or TP53 in progenitor organoids induces mutation-specific phenotypes in culture and in vivo. Expression of TP53R175H induced cytosolic SOX9 localization. In patient tumors bearing TP53 mutations, SOX9 was cytoplasmic and associated with mortality. Culture conditions are also defined for clonal generation of tumor organoids from freshly resected PDAC. Tumor organoids maintain the differentiation status, histoarchitecture, phenotypic heterogeneity of the primary tumor, and retain patient-specific physiologic changes including hypoxia, oxygen consumption, epigenetic marks, and differential sensitivity to EZH2 inhibition. Thus, pancreatic progenitor organoids and tumor organoids can be used to model PDAC and for drug screening to identify precision therapy strategies. Citation Format: Ling Huang, Audrey Holtzinger, Ishaan Jagan, Cristina Nostro, Rennian Wang, Lakshmi Muthuswamy, Cheryl Arrowsmith, Sean Cleary, David Schaeffer, Michael Roehrl, Tsao Ming-Sound, Steven Gallinger, Gordon Keller, Senthil Muthuswamy.{Authors}. Ductal pancreatic cancer modeling and drug screening using human pluripotent stem cell and patient-derived tumor organoids. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer: Advances in Science and Clinical Care; 2016 May 12-15; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(24 Suppl):Abstract nr B45.