Modelling medulloblastoma pathogenesis and treatment in human cerebellar organoids

Abstract

AbstractFaithful genetically engineeredin vivomodels of medulloblastoma (MB) are currently available only for some molecular subgroups, in keeping with recent studies showing the unique role of human-specific progenitors in the development of G3 and G4 MB subgroups. We generated human cerebellar organoids (CbO) from expanded potential stem cells (EPSC) and characterised in depth their epigenetic and transcriptomic profile. We show the presence of sub compartment-specific cerebellar lineages linked to MB formation, including populations expressing signature genes of G3 and G4 MB cells-of-origin in a 1 month-old CbO. Moreover, we demonstrate that CbO sustains MB cells proliferation and invasion in a 3D co-culture model (CbO-MB) while preserving their molecular identity, and that treatment of CbO-MB with anti-tumour compounds recapitulate the efficacy ofin vivodrug testing in PDX models.Graphical Abstract