Abstract 912: Mist1+ secretory progenitor cells can give rise to cancer in the intestine and colon

Abstract

Abstract Intestinal crypts are maintained by long-lived intestinal stem cells (ISCs) which reside near the base of glands. Above the ISC pool, there are short-lived progenitors that can supply lineage-specific differentiated cell types into the villus. Notch and Wnt pathways play a key role for determining the stem/progenitor cell function and their cell fate, and regulating cancer development in the gastrointestine. Although it has been well established that ISCs are a major origin of intestinal cancer, it remains unknown whether intestinal progenitor population can give rise to cancer. We use Mist1-CreERT mice and induce Notch and Wnt activation by mating with LSL-Notch1-IC mice and/or Apc flox mice. We found that a bHLH transcriptional factor Mist1 is expressed in Paneth cells (Lysozyme+CD24high) as well as short-lived secretory progenitors (Lysozyme-CD24low) in the intestine. Mist1+ secretory progenitors are radio- and chemo-resistant, but do not show stem cell interconversion even after intestinal injury or Lgr5 ablation. However, aberrant Notch activation changes Mist1+ cells to Lgr5+ long-lived enterocyte progenitors, with loss of secretory lineage differentiation. Mist1+CD24low progenitor population can form intestinal organoids with Notch activation in vitro. Mist1+ secretory progenitors can give rise to intestinal cancer by simultaneous Notch and Wnt activation by loss of Apc gene, while loss of Apc in Mist1 lineage alone does not develop cancer. In the colon, Mist1 marks colonic secterory progenitors that become to lineage trace and can be a cancer-initiating cell after Notch activation or DSS-induced colonic injury. These results provide the clear evidence of cellular plasticity dependent on Notch signaling in the gut, and suggest short-lived progenitors as another cellular origin of cancer besides ISC pool. Citation Format: Yoku Hayakawa, Kosuke Sakitani, Woosook Kim, Yagnesh Tailor, Karan Nagar, Kazuhiko Koike, Samuel Asfaha, Timothy C. Wang. Mist1+ secretory progenitor cells can give rise to cancer in the intestine and colon. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 912.