Tumoroids from colon cancer, including WGS-strategy
The study of three-dimensional cell models, such as tumoroids, has great potential in translational clinical research. Indeed, the stabilisation of patient-derived organoids (PDOs) is one of the tools of choice for cancer studies, due to their capacity to hold some characteristics of the tumors from which they are derived.
In this webinar, Federica Di Maggio, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Naples Federico II, discussed a study in which she and colleagues established 15 PDOs derived from subjects with colorectal cancer (CRC). The team observed the PDOs during the various phases of their growth with microscopy analyses. Furthermore, they verified the origin of the tumoroid cells by immunofluorescence analysis of cytokeratin-20. To better understand the mutation pattern of each stabilized PDO, the team carried out molecular analyses: first, using a customized multigene panel (n=58) and then using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) with nanopore sequencing technology. These analyses were performed on four different genomes derived from the same subject (blood, PDOs, tumor-derived tissue, and locally paired healthy tissue). Using this strategy, they found 14 mutations in genes related to CRC predisposition in these individuals (in the blood sample genomes), and pathogenic mutations at the somatic level in the PDOs. Their findings demonstrate the potential of this strategy for a personalized precision medicine approach for each individual. Experiments are ongoing to extend this comparative analysis of sequences to the whole mutation spectrum in the framework of precision medicine studies, including library screening of colorectal anticancer drugs for specific mutations.
Meet the speaker
Federica is a young postdoctoral researcher at the University of Naples Federico II. She graduated in 2018 in medical biotechnology at University of Naples. Soon after, at the same university, she began a doctoral program in molecular medicine and medical biotechnology, completing it in January, 2022. Federica is taking a period of training at the Imperial College of London after being awarded a scholarship by the University of Naples for studies abroad.