Rat somatic genome editing enables ER+ breast cancer modeling

Abstract

Genetically engineered mouse models have advanced cancer research but often fail to capture key features of certain human tumors. Rats, with distinct physiology and tumor biology, offer a powerful alternative, yet their use has been constrained by technical barriers to genome editing. Here, we report efficient somatic genome editing in rats, enabling both Indel and substitution mutations. We then apply this approach to model estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer, which accounts for [~]70% of human cases but remains poorly represented in mice. The resulting rat tumors reproduce hallmarks of human ER+ breast cancer, including ductal histology, hormone responsiveness, and immune-microenvironmental features. By contrast, identical genetic alterations in mice failed to yield ER+ tumors, underscoring critical species differences in tumorigenesis. Together, this work establishes a versatile platform for rapid generation of clinically relevant rat tumor models, opening new avenues to dissect tumor biology, therapeutic response, and immune interactions in previously inaccessible cancer subtypes.