title: Novel immunologic tolerance of human cancer cell xenotransplants in zebrafish.
abstract: Immune deficiency or suppression in host animals is an essential precondition for the success of cancer cell xenotransplantation because the host immune system has a tendency to reject implanted cells. However, in such animals, the typical tumor microenvironment seen in cancer subjects does not form because of the lack of normal immunity. Here, we developed a novel zebrafish (Danio rerio) model based on 2 rounds of cancer cell xenotransplantation that achieved cancer-specific immunologic tolerance without immunosuppression. We irradiated human cancer cells (PC-3, K562 and HepG2) to abolish their proliferative abilities and implanted them into zebrafish larvae. These cells survived for 2 weeks in the developing host. Three months after the first implantation, the zebrafish were implanted with the same, but nonirradiated, cell lines. These cancer cells proliferated and exhibited metastasis without immune suppression. To reveal the transcriptional mechanism of this immune tolerance, we conducted dual RNA-seq of the tumor with its surrounding tissues and identified several regulatory zebrafish genes that are involved in immunity; the expression of plasminogen activator, urokinase, and forkhead box P3 was altered in response to immunologic tolerance. In conclusion, this xenograft method has potential as a platform for zebrafish-based anticancer drug discovery because it can closely mimic human clinical cancers without inducing immune suppression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Beibei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Systems Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Mie University Medical Zebrafish Research Center, Mie, Japan; Department of Bioinformatics, Mie University Life Science Research Center, Mie, Japan; Department of Omics Medicine, Mie University Industrial Technology Innovation Institute, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomokazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirota
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Michiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ariyoshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Junya
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuroyanagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Systems Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Mie University Medical Zebrafish Research Center, Mie, Japan; Department of Bioinformatics, Mie University Life Science Research Center, Mie, Japan; Department of Omics Medicine, Mie University Industrial Technology Innovation Institute, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuhei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Department of Systems Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan; Mie University Medical Zebrafish Research Center, Mie, Japan; Department of Bioinformatics, Mie University Life Science Research Center, Mie, Japan; Department of Omics Medicine, Mie University Industrial Technology Innovation Institute, Mie, Japan. Electronic address: tanaka@doc.medic.mie-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000637:transplantation*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology; D056945:Hep G2 Cells / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000637:transplantation; D064593:Heterografts / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000235:genetics; D020014:K562 Cells / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000637:transplantation; D010960:Plasminogen Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C554833:foxp3a protein, zebrafish; D010960:Plasminogen Activators