Use of zebrafish embryos as avatar of patients with pancreatic cancer: A new xenotransplantation model towards personalized medicine

Figure 2 Tumor tissue was successfully engrafted in healthy zebrafish embryos in all cases. A: Surgical specimen was obtained from patient with diagnosed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC); B: Two fragments of the tumor were taken; C and D: One of them was used for histological evaluation (C) revealing that the percentage of epithelial cells (mean PDAC counterpart) out of the total surface area is 31.8% ± 4.9% (n = 3) (D); E: The second fragment of the tumor was used for xenotransplantation into the yolk of zebrafish embryos 2 dpf. After 2 d post xenotransplantation, the zebrafish patient-derived xenografts (zPDX) are Formalin-Fixed Paraffin Embedded. We performed the hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry using anti-Human Pan-Cytokeratin antibody on zPDX sections, highlighting the presence of epithelial PDAC cells (orange arrows) and the immune-negative counterpart (black arrows) that might be associated with the microenvironment side of PDAC human tissue. PDAC: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; PDX: Patient-derived xenografts; PanCK: Pan-Cytokeratin antibody.