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An immunosuppressive microenvironment in lung concurs to pre-malignant lesions progression to cancer. Here, we explore if perturbing lung microbiota, which contribute to immunosuppression, by antibiotics or probiotic aerosol interferes with lung cancer development in a mouse carcinogen-induced tumor model. Urethane-injected mice were vancomycin/neomycin (V/N)-aerosolized or live or dead L. rhamnosus GG ( L.RGG )-aerosolized, and tumor development was evaluated. Transcriptional profiling of lungs and IHC were performed. Tumor nodules number, diameter and area were reduced by live or heat-killed L.RGG , while only a decrease in nodule diameter was observed in V/N-treated lungs. Both L.RGG and V/N reduced Tregs in the lung. In L.RGG -treated groups, the gene encoding the joining chain (J chain) of immunoglobulins was increased, and higher J chain protein and IgA levels were observed. An increased infiltration of B, NK and myeloid-derived cells was predicted by TIMER 2.0. The Kaplan-Meier plotter revealed an association between high levels of J chain mRNA and good prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma patients that correlated with increased B and CD4 T cells and reduced Tregs and M2 macrophages. This study highlights L.RGG aerosol efficacy in impairing lung cancer growth by promoting local immunity and points to this non-invasive strategy to treat individuals at risk of lung cancer.

Pulmonary adenoma susceptibility 1 (Pas1) is the major locus responsible for lung tumor susceptibility in mice; among the six genes mapping in this locus, Kras is considered the best candidate for Pas1 function although how it determines tumor susceptibility remains unknown. In an (A/J × C57BL/6)F4 intercross population treated with urethane to induce lung tumors, Pas1 not only modulated tumor susceptibility (LOD score = 48, 69% of phenotypic variance explained) but also acted, in lung tumor tissue, as an expression quantitative trait locus (QTL) for Kras-4A, one of two alternatively spliced Kras transcripts, but not Kras-4B. Additionally, Kras-4A showed differential allelic expression in lung tumor tissue of (A/J × C57BL/6)F4 heterozygous mice, with significantly higher expression from the A/J-derived allele; these results suggest that cis-acting elements control Kras-4A expression. In normal lung tissue from untreated mice of the same cross, Kras-4A levels were also highly linked to the Pas1 locus (LOD score = 23.2, 62% of phenotypic variance explained) and preferentially generated from the A/J-derived allele, indicating that Pas1 is an expression QTL in normal lung tissue as well. Overall, the present findings shed new light on the genetic mechanism by which Pas1 modulates the susceptibility to lung tumorigenesis, through the fine control of Kras isoform levels.

Background: In an intercross between the SWR/J and BALB/c mouse strains, the pulmonary adenoma progression 1 (Papg1) locus on chromosome 4 modulates lung tumor size, one of several measures of lung tumor progression. This locus has not been fully characterized and defined in its extent and genetic content. Fine mapping of this and other loci affecting lung tumor phenotype is possible using recombinant inbred strains., Results: A population of 376 mice, obtained by crossing mice of the SWR/J strain with CXBN recombinant inbred mice, was treated with a single dose of urethane and assayed for multiplicity of large lung tumors (N2lung). A genome-wide analysis comparing N2lung with 6364 autosomal SNPs revealed multiple peaks of association. The Papg1 locus had two peaks, at rs3654162 (70.574 Mb, -logP=2.8) and rs6209043 (86.606 Mb, -logP=2.7), joined by an interval of weaker statistical association; these data confirm the presence of Papg1 on chromosome 4 and reduce the mapping region to two stretches of ~6.8 and ~4.2 Mb, in the proximal and distal peaks, respectively. The distal peak included Cdkn2a, a gene already proposed as being involved in Papg1 function. Other loci possibly modulating N2lung were detected on chromosomes 5, 8, 9, 11, 15, and 19, but analysis for linkage disequilibrium of these putative loci with Papg1 locus suggested that only those on chromosomes 11 and 15 were true positives., Conclusions: These findings suggest that Papg1 consists, most likely, of two distinct, nearby loci, and point to putative additional loci on chromosomes 11 and 15 modulating lung tumor size. Within Papg1, Cdkn2a appears to be a strong candidate gene while additional Papg1 genes await to be identified. Greater knowledge of the genetic and biochemical mechanisms underlying the germ-line modulation of lung tumor size in mice is relevant to other species, including humans, in that it may help identify new therapeutic targets in the fight against tumor progression.

Four of the six genes constituting the mouse Pulmonary adenoma susceptibility 1 (Pas1) locus haplotype carry amino acid variants: Lrmp, Casc1, Ghiso, and Lmna-rs1. In vitro colony formation assay of human lung cancer cell lines A549 and NCI-H520 transfected with the allelic variants of the four genes revealed allele-specific modulations of colony numbers by Lmna-rs1 and Casc1, but not by Lrmp or Ghiso. In A549 and NCI-H520 cells, the A/J allele of Lmna-rs1 produced approximately 4- and approximately 2-fold, respectively, more transfectants than did the C57BL/6J allele, whereas the A/J allele of Casc1 produced approximately 6- and approximately 5-fold fewer transfectants, respectively, as compared to the C57BL/6J allele. Inhibition of clonogenicity by allelic forms of Pas1 candidate genes was not mediated by induction of apoptosis. These findings provide evidence that allelic variants of mouse Pas1 candidate genes differentially modulate growth of human cancer cells.

The pulmonary adenoma susceptibility 1 (Pas1) locus affects inherited predisposition and resistance to chemically induced lung tumorigenesis in mice. The A/J and C57BL/6J mouse strains carry the susceptibility and resistance allele, respectively. We identified and genotyped 65 polymorphisms in the Pas1 locus region in 29 mouse inbred strains, and delimited the Pas1 locus to a minimal region of 468 kb containing six genes. That region defined a core Pas1 haplotype with 42 tightly linked markers, including intragenic polymorphisms in five genes (Bcat1, Lrmp, Las1, Ghiso, and Kras2) and amino-acid changes in three genes (Lrmp, Las1, Lmna-rs1). In (A/J x C57BL/6J)F1 mouse lung tumors, the Lmna-rs1 gene was completely downregulated, whereas allele-specific downregulation of the C57BL/6J-derived allele was observed at the Las1 gene, suggesting the potential role of these genes in tumor suppression. These results indicate a complex multigenic nature of the Pas1 locus, and point to a functional role for both intronic and exonic polymorphisms of the six genes of the Pas1 haplotype in lung tumor susceptibility.

CD-1 is the outbred mouse line most often used in toxicology and carcinogenicity bioassays. A literature survey revealed a relatively high (21.8%) incidence of spontaneous lung tumors in these mice, and a susceptibility to lung tumorigenesis induced by vinyl chloride, styrene or benzene inhalation that is not seen in B6C3F1 or C57BL/6 mice, or in rats and hamsters. As the pulmonary adenoma susceptibility 1 (Pas1) locus is the major determinant of genetic susceptibility to lung tumorigenesis in mice, we analyzed CD-1 mice for genetic polymorphisms of the Kras2 and Pthlh genes, which are tightly linked with the Pas1 locus. From 95 to 98% of CD-1 mice carried the susceptibility allele at the Pas1 locus either at homozygosity or heterozygosity, providing a molecular genetic explanation for the high susceptibility of CD-1 mice to spontaneous and chemically induced lung tumorigenesis. These results may have implications for the risk assessment of chemicals in humans using experimental animals that display strain-specific lung tumorigenicity.

Two outbred mouse lines, phenotypically selected for differential subcutaneous (s.c.) acute inflammatory response (AIR), were analysed for urethane-induced lung inflammatory response and susceptibility to lung tumorigenesis. AIR(min) mice, which show a low response to s.c. acute inflammation, developed a persistent subacute lung inflammatory response and a 40-fold higher lung tumor multiplicity than did AIR(max) mice, which are selected for high response to s.c. acute inflammation and showed a transient lung inflammatory response. A highly significant linkage disequilibrium pattern was observed in AIR(max) and AIR(min) mice at marker alleles located within a 452-kb pulmonary adenoma susceptibility 1 (Pas1) locus region, thus defining the location of gene candidacy for inflammatory response and for the biological effects of Pas1 in this region. AIR(min) and AIR(max) mice segregated by descent the Pas1(s) and Pas1(r) alleles, respectively, providing evidence for the involvement of the Pas1 locus in the inflammatory response. The 452-kb region contains Kras2 and four additional genes, including the lymphoid-restricted membrane protein (Lrmp) gene, whose Pro-->Leu nonconservative variation was linked with inflammatory response and Pas1 allelotype. These results provide a model to explore the mechanism underlying inherited predisposition to lung cancer in the context of a link to inflammation.

Analysis of seven candidate genes mapping in the 1-Mb region of the mouse pulmonary adenoma resistance 4 (Par4) locus revealed a single amino-acid change, consisting in a nonconservative Arg968Cys variation in the juxtamembrane domain of the Met proto-oncogene-encoded protein. The BALB/c strain (resistant allele) carried the Arg allele, whereas the SWR/J mouse strain (Par4-susceptible allele) carried the Cys variation, recently proven to functionally modulate tumorigenesis. Seven genetic linkage crosses herein analysed and six crosses reported in the literature pointed to the candidacy of the Met gene for Par4. Analysis of genomic DNA of 126 lung adenocarcinoma patients for the Met juxtamembrane domain revealed the same Arg/Cys variation at the mouse homologous position in one patient; two other patients carried additional variants in the same domain, suggesting a potential role for rare MET juxtamembrane variants in human lung cancer.Oncogene (2005) 24, 1084-1090. doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1208324 Published online 13 December 2004 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]