Establishment and Characterization of Immortalized Miniature Pig Pancreatic Cell Lines Expressing Oncogenic K-Ras G12D

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 21; no. 22
• Main Authors: Yang, Hae-Jun, Song, Bong-Seok, Sim, Bo-Woong, Jung, Yena, Chae, Unbin, Lee, Dong Gil, Cha, Jae-Jin, Baek, Seo-Jong, Lim, Kyung Seob, Choi, Won Seok, Lee, Hwal-Yong, Son, Hee-Chang, Park, Sung-Hyun, Jeong, Kang-Jin, Kang, Philyong, Baek, Seung Ho, Koo, Bon-Sang, Kim, Han-Na, Jin, Yeung Bae, Park, Young-Ho, Choo, Young-Kug, Kim, Sun-Uk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 21.11.2020
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Line; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic - genetics; Disease Models, Animal; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic - genetics; Pancreas - metabolism; Pancreas - pathology; Pancreatic Ducts - metabolism; Pancreatic Ducts - pathology; Pancreatic Neoplasms - genetics; Pancreatic Neoplasms - pathology; Precancerous Conditions - genetics; Precancerous Conditions - metabolism; Precancerous Conditions - pathology; Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) - genetics; Signal Transduction - genetics; Swine; Swine, Miniature; acinar-to-ductal metaplasia; miniature pig pancreatic cells; K-rasG12D; pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
• ISSN: 1422-0067

In recent decades, many studies on the treatment and prevention of pancreatic cancer have been conducted. However, pancreatic cancer remains incurable, with a high mortality rate. Although mouse models have been widely used for preclinical pancreatic cancer research, these models have many differences from humans. Therefore, large animals may be more useful for the investigation of pancreatic cancer. Pigs have recently emerged as a new model of pancreatic cancer due to their similarities to humans, but no pig pancreatic cancer cell lines have been established for use in drug screening or analysis of tumor biology. Here, we established and characterized an immortalized miniature pig pancreatic cell line derived from primary pancreatic cells and pancreatic cancer-like cells expressing K-ras regulated by the human PTF1A promoter. Using this immortalized cell line, we analyzed the gene expression and phenotypes associated with cancer cell characteristics. Notably, we found that acinar-to-ductal transition was caused by K-ras in the cell line constructed from acinar cells. This may constitute a good research model for the analysis of acinar-to-ductal metaplasia in human pancreatic cancer.