Generation of orthotopic pancreatic tumors and ex vivo characterization of tumor-infiltrating T cell cytotoxicity.
Author(s)
Spear, Sarah
McNeish, Iain A
Capasso, Melania
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
In vivo models of pancreatic cancer provide invaluable tools for studying disease dynamics, immune infiltration and new therapeutic strategies. The orthotopic murine model can be performed on large cohorts of immunocompetent mice simultaneously, is relatively inexpensive and preserves the cognate tissue microenvironment. The quantification of T cell infiltration and cytotoxic activity within orthotopic tumors provides a useful indicator of an antitumoral response. This protocol describes the methodology for surgical generation of orthotopic pancreatic tumors by injection of a low number of syngeneic tumor cells resuspended in 5 µL basement membrane directly into the pancreas. Mice bearing orthotopic tumors take approximately 30 days to reach endpoint, at which point tumors can be harvested and processed for characterization of tumor-infiltrating T cell activity. Rapid enzymatic digestion using collagenase and DNase allows a single-cell suspension to be extracted from tumors. The viability and cell surface markers of immune cells extracted from the tumor are preserved; therefore, it is appropriate for multiple downstream applications, including flow-assisted cell sorting of immune cells for culture or RNA extraction, flow cytometry analysis of immune cell populations. Here, we describe the ex vivo stimulation of T cell populations for intracellular cytokine quantification (IFNγ and TNFα) and degranulation activity (CD107a) as a measure of overall cytotoxicity. Whole-tumor digests were stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate and ionomycin for 5 h, in the presence of anti-CD107a antibody in order to upregulate cytokine production and degranulation. The addition of brefeldin A and monensin for the final 4 h was performed to block extracellular transport and maximize cytokine detection. Extra- and intra-cellular staining of cells was then performed for flow cytometry analysis, where the proportion of IFNγ+, TNFα+ and CD107a+ CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was quantified. This method provides a starting base to perform comprehensive analysis of the tumor microenvironment.
Date Issued
2019-12-07
Date Acceptance
2019-12-01
Citation
Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2019, 154 (154), pp.1-11
ISSN
1940-087X
Publisher
Journal of Visualized Experiments
Start Page
1
End Page
11
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Visualized Experiments
Volume
154
Issue
154
Copyright Statement
© 2019 Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Sponsor
Ovarian Cancer Action
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31868177
Grant Number
n/a
Subjects
1702 Cognitive Sciences
0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology
1701 Psychology
Publication Status
Published online
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2019-12-07