Emilie Indersie, Katarzyna B Hooks, Caroline Capdevielle, Monique Fabre, Nathalie Dugot-Senant, Angélique Desplat, Sébastien Lepreux, Aksam Merched, Christophe F Grosset, Martin Hagedorn
Hepatoblastoma (HBL) is a pediatric liver cancer with defined molecular alterations driving its progression. Here, we describe an animal model for HBL on the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), which recapitulates relevant features of HBL in patients. Expression of classic tumor-associated proteins such as β-catenin, EpCAM and CK19 was maintained in acini-like organized tumors on CAM, as was synthesis of AFP, a tumor marker used for monitoring patient response. RNA sequencing revealed an unexpected molecular evolution of HBL cells on the CAM, with significant deregulation of more than 6,000 genes including more than half of all HOX genes...
March 23, 2018: Oncotarget