Abstract 15: Investigating the spectrum of brain tumors associated with Adgrb3 and Tp53 loss in a mouse model of Li-Fraumeni syndrome
Authors: Torrelli-Diljohn Alex B. , Komarova Svetlana , Sheth Vipul , Lin Benjamin , Goel Paran , Miller Ryan , Welner Robert , Van Meir Erwin G. 
Published: April 2023

Adhesion G protein-coupled receptor 3 (ADGRB3), also known as brain specific angiogenesis inhibitor (BAI3) is a member of the ADGRB1-3 subfamily of adhesion transmembrane proteins, which are highly expressed in the brain specifically in cerebellum and hippocampal neurons. ADGRB3 has been shown to play diverse roles under physiological and pathological conditions which include dendritic morphogenesis, synaptic plasticity, synaptogenesis, and myogenesis. Loss of ADGRB3 expression and point mutations in the gene have been observed in sporadic tumors, including brain tumors, but the significance of this observation has not been investigated. Moreover, no mouse models to understand the role of ADGRB3 in brain tumor susceptibility and pathobiology have been developed thus far. Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is a rare inherited autosomal dominant disorder caused by a germline mutation in one TP53 allele, predisposing patients to the development of a variety of tumors from a pediatric age, including gliomas and medulloblastoma. The secondary molecular alterations that predispose LFS patients to brain tumors are currently unknown. Interestingly, a LFS patient was reported to carry a translocation in ADGRB3 and HGMLL genes. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying brain tumor formation in LFS patients and the role of p53 and ADGRB3 in the process, we have generated a LFS mouse model. The mice harbor a germline p53 deleted allele and a second floxed allele. Loss of the second allele is induced in the brain by crossing with mice harboring a Nestin promoter driven Cre recombinase, since Nestin is expressed along the craniospinal axis and in glial precursor cells. We observed that the majority of nestin-Cre p53m/f mice all died between 8 and 10 months of age while nestin-Cre p53m/+ mice did not. About 20% of the mice developed hind leg paralysis and harbored large gliomas, which likely caused their demise. The remainder mice lacked brain tumors, but had other malignancies (sarcomas, etc.) as observed in patients. Remarkably, the addition of Adgrb3 deletion to the genotype led to a dramatic increase (from 20% to 60%??) in the number of brain tumors, including medulloblastoma formation, which are also reported in LFS patients. The Adgrb3-/- p53+/- Nestin-Cre mouse model constitutes a useful tool to understand the tumorigenic landscape caused by the loss of Adgrb3. We are now performing genomic analyses on the excised tumors and derived neurosphere cultures to further study the transformation process and the molecular changes induced by Adgrb3 loss.

Citation Format: Alex B. Torrelli-Diljohn, Svetlana Komarova, Vipul Sheth, Benjamin Lin, Paran Goel, Ryan Miller, Robert Welner, Erwin G. Van Meir. Investigating the spectrum of brain tumors associated with Adgrb3 and Tp53 loss in a mouse model of Li-Fraumeni syndrome [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 15.