Xenograft Models
Xenograft mouse models provide a valuable preclinical tool for developing cancer therapeutics by allowing researchers to study the growth and behavior of human cancer cells in vivo.
While xenograft models do not replicate the native microenvironment of the tumor as closely as orthotopic models, xenograft models offer a wider range of human cancer cell lines and replicate the human immune response to cancer better due to being immunodeficient. Xenograft models are simpler to develop and maintain and end up being more reproducible than orthotopic models.
Breast Cancer
MCF7 (Luc) is a cell line derived from a breast cancer patient that is widely used in xenograft mouse models to investigate the growth and progression of breast cancer.
Colon Cancer
HCT116 and MC38 are colon cancer cell lines used in colon cancer xenograft tumor models. HCT116 is a human colorectal carcinoma cell line that has DNA mismatch repair-deficiency.
Pancreatic Cancer
KRAS is mutated in 90% of pancreatic cancers. The Panc-1 and Panc-10.05 cell lines were derived from different patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and offer the ability to study different KRAS mutations.
Melanoma
A375 and SK-MEL-28 are melanoma cell lines that have been employed in xenograft mouse models. A375 has a BRAF V600E mutation and SK-MEL-28 has a NRAS Q61R mutation.
Leukemia
AML (Kg-1a) cell line has MLL and AF9 gene fusion from a patient with acute myeloid leukemia. MLL regulates gene expression, while AF9 modifies chromatin.
Tracking tumor volume in Nude mice
A549 cells carry mutations in KRAS, STK11, and CDKN2A genes that are commonly found in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Targeting KRAS mutations has become a popular approach for treating NSCLC, as these mutations are present in approximately 25% of cases and are associated with a poor response to therapy.
Localizing SNU-638 cells in immunocompromised mice using GFP and Luciferase labeling
SNU-638 is a human gastric cancer cell line that is commonly used in xenograft mouse models for studying the growth and behavior of human gastric cancer cells. GFP labeling allows to visualize the location of the tumor and Luciferase labeling allows precise quantification of the numbers of tumor cells present throughout a treatment.