Abstract 23: Development of a biallelicDicer1mutant mouse strain for studying the pathogenesis of DICER1 syndrome-associated cancer

Abstract

Abstract DICER1 encodes a RNase III enzyme that post-transcriptionally controls gene expression through governing microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis. We and others have demonstrated that somatic mutations of DICER1 at its RNase IIIb domain metal binding sites, impairing its capability to produce mature miRNAs from the 5P strand of miRNA precursors, occur recurrently in a broad spectrum of cancers associated with the DICER1 syndrome that affects children and youths predominantly. The biallelic DICER1 mutations in these cancers challenge the two-hit hypothesis theory of traditional tumour suppressors, but it remains unproven whether these mutations are sufficient to drive tumorigenesis. The lack of biology relevant preclinical models has also hindered the understanding the pathogenesis. Here, we developed a genetically engineered mouse strain that expresses an inducible knockin Dicer1 missense mutation (Dicer1+/fl-D1693N), equivalent to the DICER1 RNase IIIb hotspot mutation D1709N in human cancers. This conditional strain behaves as a null allele due to an aberrant splicing event without Cre-mediated recombination. When crossed with a well-characterized conditional null Dicer1 strain (Dicer1fl/fl), the resulting compound heterozygous strain (Dicer1fl/fl-D1693N), acts as a hemizygous wildtype allele that is converted to a hemizygous missense mutation allele upon Cre-mediated recombination, reflecting the genetic status of DICER1 in DICER1 syndrome-associated cancer. When crossing with the anti-Mullerian hormone receptor 2 (Amhr2) driven cre strain (Amhr2+/cre), the biallelic Dicer1 mutation resulted in infertility in females by impairing the development of oviduct and endometrium and ultimately drove the development of multicystic tubal and intra-uterine tumours. Histologically, these murine tumors resemble human Müllerian adenosarcoma and other DICER1 syndrome-associated sarcomas. Molecular analysis of these murine tumours validated the miRNA biogenesis defects in 5P-miRNA production, uncovered the activation of the myc signaling and identified that loss of let-7 family miRNAs may drive the transcriptomic rewiring and malignant transformation. Thus, this first DICER1 syndrome-associated murine cancer model faithfully recapitulates the biology of human cancer and provides a unique tool for future investigation and therapeutic development. Citation Format: Yemin Wang, Shary Chen, Janine Senz, Maxwell Douglas, Shelby Thornton, Yana Moscovitz, C. Blake Gilks, David Huntsman, Gregg Morin. Development of a biallelicDicer1mutant mouse strain for studying the pathogenesis of DICER1 syndrome-associated cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 23.