Identification of a subpopulation of highly metastatic pancreatic cancer cells. Identification of a subpopulation of highly metastatic pancreatic cancer cells. A, Alleles in the KPCcolors model (KrasLSL-G12D/+;Trp53LSL-R172H/+;Hmga2CK/+;R26LSL-Tom;Pdx1-Cre) before and after Cre-mediated recombination. B, Representative FACS plots of dissociated pancreatic cancer cells from KrasLSL-G12D/+;Trp53LSL-R172H/+;Pdx1-Cre;R26LSL-Tom (KPCT) and KPCcolors mice. FSC/SSC-gated lineage− (CD45−CD31−F4/80−Ter119−) viable (DAPI−) Tomato+ cells are shown. C, Individual primary tumors and metastases (Mets) have variable proportions of GFP+ cells. Each dot is a tumor, and the bar is the mean. D, Metastatic ability of GFP− and GFP+ subpopulations from individual tumors was assessed by intravenous (i.v.) transplantation into recipient mice. E, Light and fluorescent dissecting scope images of lungs from recipient mice after i.v. transplantation of GFP− or GFP+ PDAC cells from an individual tumor from a KPCcolors mouse. Scale bars, 0.5 cm. F, Number of cells injected and the number of metastases are indicated for each matched pair. The average number of metastases per 104 GFP− and GFP+ PDAC cells is shown. P < 0.008 by the Wilcoxon matched-pair signed rank test. Shin-Heng Chiou et al. Cancer Discov 2017;7:1184-1199 ©2017 by American Association for Cancer Research