Expression Analysis of Normal and Neoplastic Mouse Pancreatic Ductal Organoids

This study used Illumina strand-specific, paired-end RNA-sequencing to examine gene expression differences between normal and neoplastic mouse pancreatic ductal cells grown as three-dimensional, organoid cultures. The study analyzed 19 independently derived organoid lines. These 19 lines included 7 biological replicate "mN," or mouse normal, organoid lines, derived from the pancreatic ductal cells of wild-type C57Bl/6J or C57Bl/6N mice. In addition, the study analyzed 6 biological replicate "mP," or mouse PanIN, organoid lines, derived from PanIN-containing mouse pancreata from the KrasLSL-G12D; Pdx1-Cre mouse model. (The presence of PanIN in the pancreata from which these organoid lines were derived was confirmed by examining histological sections from the same pancreata). The final 6 lines examined in this study were biological replicate "mT," or mouse tumor, organoid lines, derived from mouse pancreata containing pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) from the KrasLSL-G12D; Trp53LSL-R162H; Pdx1-Cre mouse model. We genes differentially expressed in the PanIN- or tumor-derived mouse organoid lines, relative to the mouse normal organoids, that may reflect expression changes required for pancreatic tumorigenesis.