A syngeneic spontaneous zebrafish model oftp53-deficient, EGFR^vIII, and PI3KCA^H1047R-driven glioblastoma reveals inhibitory roles for inflammation during tumor initiation and relapsein vivo

High-throughput vertebrate animal model systems for the study of patient-specific biology and new therapeutic approaches for aggressive brain tumors are currently lacking, and new approaches are urgently needed. Therefore, to build a patient-relevantin vivomodel of human glioblastoma, we expressed common oncogenic variants including activated human EGFR^vIIIand PI3KCA^H1047Runder the control of the radial glial-specific promoterher4.1in syngeneictp53loss-of-function mutant zebrafish. Robust tumor formation was observed prior to 45 days of life, and tumors had a gene expression signature similar to human glioblastoma of the mesenchymal subtype, with a strong inflammatory component. Within early stage tumor lesions, and in anin vivoand endogenous tumor microenvironment, we visualized infiltration of phagocytic cells, as well as internalization of tumor cells bympeg1.1:EGFP+ microglia/macrophages, suggesting negative regulatory pressure by pro-inflammatory cell types on tumor growth at early stages of glioblastoma initiation. Furthermore, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene targeting of master inflammatory transcription factorsirf7orirf8led to increased tumor formation in the primary context, while suppression of phagocyte activity led to enhanced tumor cell engraftment following transplantation into otherwise immune-competent zebrafish hosts. Altogether, we developed a genetically relevant model of aggressive human glioblastoma and harnessed the unique advantages of zebrafish including live imaging, high-throughput genetic and chemical manipulations to highlight important tumor suppressive roles for the innate immune system on glioblastoma initiation, with important future opportunities for therapeutic discovery and optimizations.