Novel mouse cell lines and in vivo models for human high-grade neuroendocrine lung carcinoma SCLC and LCNEC
There is a clear need to expand the toolkit of adequate mouse models and cell lines available for preclinical studies of high-grade neuroendocrine lung carcinoma (Small Cell Lung Carcinoma, SCLC and Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma, LCNEC), two highly aggressive tumor types with dismal prognosis and few therapeutic options. Actually, paucity is extreme in the case of LCNEC.  Given the lack of murine cell lines and transplant models of LCNEC the need is imperative/unmet. In this study, we have generated and examined new models of LCNEC and SCLC transplantable cell lines derived from our previously developed primary mouse LCNEC and SCLC tumors. RNA-seq analysis demonstrated that our cell lines and syngeneic tumors maintained the transcriptome program from the original transgenic primary tumor, and display strong similarities to human SCLC or LCNEC. Importantly, the SCLC transplanted cell lines show the ability of metastasize, mimicking this characteristic of the human condition. In summary, we have generated mouse cell line tools that allow further basic and translational research, as well as preclinical testing of new treatment strategies for SCLC and LCNEC, as they retain important features of their human counterparts and address the lack of LCNEC disease models. Overall design: Gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for mouse cancer cell lines, mouse allograft tumors, and normal lung from mice.