1. Inferring Drug-induced Plasticity via Drug Screen Data
- Author
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Wu, Chenyu, Gunnarsson, Einar Bjarki, Foo, Jasmine, and Leder, Kevin
- Subjects
Quantitative Biology - Populations and Evolution ,Quantitative Biology - Quantitative Methods - Abstract
Resistance to therapy remains a significant challenge in cancer treatment, often due to the presence of a stem-like cell population that drives tumor recurrence post-treatment. Moreover, many anticancer drugs inadvertently induce plasticity, reverting differentiated cancer cells to drug-resistant stem-like states. Addressing this phenomenon is crucial for advancing cancer therapeutics. In this study, we introduce a robust statistical framework based on multi-type branching processes that can dissect tumor dynamics and drug effects from high throughput drug screening data. Through comprehensive in silico experiments, we show the efficacy of our framework in estimating parameters governing population dynamics and drug responses in a heterogeneous tumor population where cell state transitions are influenced by the drug. Finally, using recent in vitro data involving AGS-SORE6+/- cells treated with ciclopirox olamine, we show how our framework can be used to confirm the presence of drug-induced cell plasticity.
- Published
- 2024