Pathophysiological model to recapitulate the progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma metastasized to the liver.

• Project/Area Number: 22K18182
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 90110:Biomedical engineering-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: DANOY MATHIEU 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科(工学部), 助教 (90882621)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Project Status: Discontinued (Fiscal Year 2022)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000); Fiscal Year 2024: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2023: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000); Fiscal Year 2022: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
• Keywords: Tumor / Pancreas / Liver / hiPSCs / Stroma / Fibroblasts / Macrophages / Cancer / PDAC / Metastasis / Pathophysiology

Outline of Research at the Start

A coculture model of hepatic and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells will be designed to mimic the development of metastasis of the latter within the liver. The model will aim at reproducing accurately the cellular environment while being compatible with clinical drug screening.

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

The differentiation of hiPSCs-derived tumor models has been achieved with several cell lines. Depending on the cancer cell line used for the induction, the models were found to express markers typical of cancer stem cells, tumor-associated macrophages, and cancer-associated fibroblasts. The function has also been tested for those cell types in terms of proteins such as Ki67. The different models have been sorted to investigate the percentage in each cell type of each model. The project has been prematurely ended due to a change of employment of the principal investigator.