Comprehensive Cell- and Gene-Based Tumor Profiling Using Flow Cytometry and NanoString in a Murine Bladder Cancer Model

AACR 2022 -- Bladder cancer (BC) is the thirteenth leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Five checkpoint immunotherapies that target the PD-1/PD-L1 axis are FDA approved, and gene- and protein-based approaches are helping to identify new combination treatment strategies for therapeutic intervention. Using anti-mPD-1 treatment in a murine bladder cancer model (MB49), we combined flow cytometric and non-targeted immune gene expression analysis. Flow cytometry was performed as a targeted approach to examine specific biomarkers for various pro- and anti-tumor activities in different immune subsets. The nCounter Mouse PanCancer IO 360? panel is a 770-plex gene expression panel that includes 48 distinct gene signatures to examine cancer-related immune responses. The IO 360? panel provided a non-biased global gene expression profile of the TME in anti-mPD-1 treated MB49 tumor-bearing mice.