Generation and Characterisation of Novel Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Xenograft Models and Corresponding Primary Cell Lines

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the most lethal cancer types, currently lacking efficient treatment. The heterogeneous nature of these tumours are poorly represented by the classical pancreatic cell lines, which have been through strong clonal selection in vitro, and are often derived from metastases. Here, we describe the establishment of novel pancreatic adenocarcinoma models, xenografts and corresponding in vitro cell lines, from primary pancreatic tumours. The morphology, differentiation grade and gene expression pattern of the xenografts resemble the original tumours well. The cell lines were analysed for colony forming capacity, tumourigenicity and expression of known cancer cell surface markers and cancer stem-like characteristics. These primary cell models will be valuable tools for biological and preclinical studies for this devastating disease.

胰腺腺癌（Pancreatic adenocarcinoma）是致死性最高的癌症类型之一，目前尚无有效治疗手段。这类肿瘤的异质性特征难以通过经典胰腺细胞系得到充分体现：此类细胞系均经过了严苛的体外克隆筛选，且多源自肿瘤转移灶。本研究报告了从原发性胰腺肿瘤中构建新型胰腺腺癌模型、异种移植瘤（xenografts）及对应体外细胞系的方法。该异种移植瘤的形态学特征、分化等级与基因表达谱均与原始肿瘤高度相似。研究团队对所获细胞系的集落形成能力、致瘤性、已知癌细胞表面标志物表达情况及癌干细胞样特性进行了分析。此类原代细胞模型将为这一凶险恶性疾病的生物学研究与临床前研究提供极具价值的实验工具。