EPI-SauriCas9-based mouse ovarian cancer models recapitulating pten deletion in patients

TL;DR

A new mouse model of ovarian cancer with PTEN and TP53 deletions is developed to study tumor biology and test potential therapies.

Contribution

The MEPP model using EPI-SauriCas9 system enables the study of PTEN-deleted ovarian cancer and identifies promising drugs.

Findings

Pten loss promotes tumorigenicity and metastasis in the MEPP model.

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals distinct epithelial subpopulations with varying metastatic potential.

FK228 and thioguanine are identified as effective therapeutic candidates in PTEN-deleted models.

Abstract

Ovarian cancer remains a deadly gynecological malignancy, with PTEN loss and TP53 mutations frequently implicated in its progression. However, suitable models for studying ovarian cancers with PTEN and TP53 deletions are rare. Here we develop and validate the mouse ovarian epithelium with Pten and Trp53 deletions (MEPP) model using the EPI-SauriCas9 system. We demonstrate the role of Pten loss in promoting tumorigenicity and metastasis. Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals distinct epithelial subpopulations with varying metastatic potential. MEPP also recapitulates key features of human ovarian cancer, including its immune landscape and therapeutic responses. High-throughput drug screening identifies FK228 and thioguanine as promising therapeutic candidates, both of which show in vivo efficacy and are validated in PTEN-deleted organoids. Together, these results establish MEPP as a platform for studying PTEN-deleted ovarian cancer and provide a strategy for generating clinically relevant tumor models through targeted gene editing.

A mouse ovarian cancer model MEPP with Pten/Trp53 loss, engineered using the EPI-SauriCas9 system, provides a platform for dissecting ovarian cancer biology and accelerating drug discovery.

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