Suppression of lung adenocarcinoma progression by Nkx2-1.

Despite the high prevalence and poor outcome of patients with metastatic lung cancer the mechanisms of tumour progression and metastasis remain largely uncharacterized. Here we modelled human lung adenocarcinoma, which frequently harbours activating point mutations in KRAS and inactivation of the p53 pathway, using conditional alleles in mice. Lentiviral-mediated somatic activation of oncogenic Kras and deletion of p53 in the lung epithelial cells of Kras(LSL-G12D/+);p53(flox/flox) mice initiates lung adenocarcinoma development.

Regulated expression of a tumor-associated antigen reveals multiple levels of T-cell tolerance in a mouse model of lung cancer.

Maximizing the potential of cancer immunotherapy requires model systems that closely recapitulate human disease to study T-cell responses to tumor antigens and to test immunotherapeutic strategies. We have created a new system that is compatible with Cre-LoxP-regulatable mouse cancer models in which the SIY antigen is specifically overexpressed in tumors, mimicking clinically relevant TAAs. To show the utility of this system, we have characterized SIY-reactive T cells in the context of lung adenocarcinoma, revealing multiple levels of antigen-specific T-cell tolerance that serve to limit an effective antitumor response.