Abstract 5821: Enhanced tumorigenesis in a novel miR-216a knockout/KPC mouse model of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) originates from both ductal and acinar cells of the pancreas. The highly abundant and acinar cell-enriched miR-216a is reduced during in vitro acinar ductal metaplasia (ADM), throughout PanIN progression, during the development of pancreatitis in mice and humans, and during development of mouse and human PDAC. To investigate the contribution of miR-216a in the development of PDAC, we generated a miR-216a germline knockout mouse (216aKO) via CRISPR genetic editing of a minimal and precise deletion of the miR-216a precursor sequence without affecting the host gene. We crossed this 216aKO mouse to the LSL-KrasG12D; LSL-Trp53Flox/+; Pdx1Cre/+ (KPC) mice to produce a transgenic mouse with an activating Kras mutation, p53 deletion, and knockout of miR-216a (referred to here as miR216aKPC). miR216aKPC displayed an increase in tumor progression compared to KPC and had reduced survival - median 15 weeks miR216aKPC vs. 25 weeks for KPC. miR216aKPC produced lung metastasis by 12 weeks of age which were not present in the lungs of similarly aged KPC mice. Transfection of miR-216a mimetic oligo into cell lines derived from KPC or 216aKPC mice did not reduce viability or alter cellular morphology, suggesting that a potential tumor suppressive role of miR-216a functions during the early stages of PDAC development. A three dimensional ADM assay using acinar cells derived from both mouse and human pancreata will be applied to investigate the contributions of miR-216a on the development of ADM and cell polarity. To discover miR-216a target genes that are responsible for the increased tumorigenesis, cell lines derived from miR216aKPC will be transfected with miR-216a mimetic or scrambled control oligo followed by RNA sequencing. Our results thus far suggest a tumor suppressive role for miR-216a in the early development of PDAC and future studies will investigate molecular and cellular mechanisms driving acinar cell-induced PDAC. Citation Format: Andrew A. Brock, Katherine Powell, Thomas D. Schmittgen, Lorenzo F. Sempere. Enhanced tumorigenesis in a novel miR-216a knockout/KPC mouse model of pancreatic cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 5821.