Patient-derived bladder cancer organoids show stable transcript expression along cultivation

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Genomics
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Bladder cancer (BC) is a common malignancy with frequent recurrences.
• Patient-derived bladder cancer organoids (BCOs) offer potential for disease modeling and personalized treatment screening.
• Understanding BCO transcriptomic stability during cultivation is crucial for their application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate transcriptomic plasticity in bladder cancer organoids (BCOs) over different cultivation periods.
• To determine optimal timeframes for utilizing BCOs in research and clinical applications.
• To assess the stability of gene expression profiles in BCOs throughout expansion.

Main Methods:

• Tumor samples from three bladder cancer patients were used to establish BCOs.
• Differential gene expression and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analyzed RNA expression at various passages.
• Transcriptomic profiles were compared across early (1-4), mid (5-9), and late (>9) passages.

Main Results:

• BCO lines exhibited consistent transcriptomic profiles without significant alterations across passages.
• Key cancer-related genes (e.g., TP53, PIK3CA, BRCA1) showed stable expression levels during cultivation.
• No substantial transcriptomic changes were observed throughout the BCO expansion process.

Conclusions:

• The stable transcriptome of BCOs supports their use in personalized medicine and efficient drug screening.
• Earlier BCO passages are recommended for accelerated patient treatment counseling.
• Higher BCO passages are suitable for applications requiring larger cell quantities, such as medical device development.