Non-Invasive Ultrasound Assessment of Endometrial Cancer Progression in Pax8-Directed Deletion of the Tumor Suppressors Arid1a and Pten in Mice

J Vis Exp. 2023 Feb 17:(192). doi: 10.3791/64732.

Abstract

Uterine cancers can be studied in mice due to the ease of handling and genetic manipulation in these models. However, these studies are often limited to assessing pathology post-mortem in animals euthanized at multiple time points in different cohorts, which increases the number of mice needed for a study. Imaging mice in longitudinal studies can track the progression of disease in individual animals, reducing the number of mice needed. Advances in ultrasound technology have allowed for the detection of micrometer-level changes in tissues. Ultrasound has been used to study follicle maturation in ovaries and xenograft growth but has not been applied to morphological changes in the mouse uterus. This protocol examines the juxtaposition of pathology with in vivo imaging comparisons in an induced endometrial cancer mouse model. The features observed by ultrasound were consistent with the degree of change seen by gross pathology and histology. Ultrasound was found to be highly predictive of the observed pathology, supporting the incorporation of ultrasonography into longitudinal studies of uterine diseases such as cancer in mice.

Publication types

  • Video-Audio Media
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Endometrial Neoplasms* / diagnostic imaging
  • Endometrial Neoplasms* / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Deletion
  • Heterografts
  • Mice
  • PAX8 Transcription Factor
  • PTEN Phosphohydrolase
  • Transcription Factors
  • Ultrasonography

Substances

  • Arid1a protein, mouse
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • PAX8 Transcription Factor
  • PTEN Phosphohydrolase
  • Transcription Factors
  • Pax8 protein, mouse
  • Pten protein, mouse