Lamellipodin-Deficient Mice: A Model of Rectal Carcinoma

PLoS One. 2016 Apr 5;11(4):e0152940. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152940. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

During a survey of clinical rectal prolapse (RP) cases in the mouse population at MIT animal research facilities, a high incidence of RP in the lamellipodin knock-out strain, C57BL/6-Raph1tm1Fbg (Lpd-/-) was documented. Upon further investigation, the Lpd-/- colony was found to be infected with multiple endemic enterohepatic Helicobacter species (EHS). Lpd-/- mice, a transgenic mouse strain produced at MIT, have not previously shown a distinct immune phenotype and are not highly susceptible to other opportunistic infections. Predominantly male Lpd-/- mice with RP exhibited lesions consistent with invasive rectal carcinoma concomitant to clinically evident RP. Multiple inflammatory cytokines, CD11b+Gr1+ myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) populations, and epithelial cells positive for a DNA damage biomarker, H2AX, were elevated in affected tissue, supporting their role in the neoplastic process. An evaluation of Lpd-/- mice with RP compared to EHS-infected, but clinically normal (CN) Lpd-/- animals indicated that all of these mice exhibit some degree of lower bowel inflammation; however, mice with prolapses had significantly higher degree of focal lesions at the colo-rectal junction. When Helicobacter spp. infections were eliminated in Lpd-/- mice by embryo transfer rederivation, the disease phenotype was abrogated, implicating EHS as a contributing factor in the development of rectal carcinoma. Here we describe lesions in Lpd-/- male mice consistent with a focal inflammation-induced neoplastic transformation and propose this strain as a mouse model of rectal carcinoma.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carrier Proteins / genetics*
  • DNA Damage
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Humans
  • In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
  • Membrane Proteins / genetics*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Rectal Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Rectal Neoplasms / pathology

Substances

  • Carrier Proteins
  • Membrane Proteins
  • RAPH1 protein, human