The Establishment of Prostate-specific, SKP2 Humanized Mice by CRISPR Knock-in Method Reveals Neoplastic Initiation and Microenvironmental Reprogramming

Genetic inactivation of SKP2 has been shown to effectively prevent cancer initiation and block tumorigenesis. However, direct in vivo evidence for SKP2 on cancer initiation and prostatic microenvironment is still lacking and a SKP2 humanized mouse model is critical for developing prostate cancer immunoprevention approaches through targeting SKP2. We therefore have established a prostate-specific human SKP2 knock-in mouse model driven by an endogenous mouse probasin promoter. Overexpression of hSKP2 induces PIN and low-grade carcinoma. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed significant gene expression alterations in EMT, extracellular matrix, and interferon signaling. Single cell deconvolution showed an increase of fibroblast population and a decrease of CD8+ T cell and B cell populations. Consistently with these results from the SKP2 humanized mouse, SKP2 protein is overexpressed in human prostatic hyperplasia, PIN and prostate adenocarcinoma compared to normal prostate tissues. Overexpression of SKP2 markedly increased cell migration and invasion and induced the gene expression of EMT and interferon pathways. In addition, paired prostate organoids were derived from SKP2 humanized and wild-type mice for drug screening and validated by known SKP2 inhibitors, Flavokawain A and C1. Both of which selectively decreased viability and altered the morphologies of organoids of hSKP2 knock-in rather than wild-type mice. Our studies provide a well-characterized prostate-specific hSKP2 knock-in mouse model and offer new mechanistic insights for understanding the oncogenic role of SKP2 in shaping the prostatic microenvironment during early carcinogenesis.