Harvesting Peritoneal Fat Depots: A Technique to Study Ovarian Cancer Colonization of Peritoneal Adipose Tissues in Mouse Models

The adipose tissue or the fat depots primarily present in the omental, mesenteric, uterine, gonadal, and splenoportal regions of the peritoneum may provide a suitable microenvironment for cancer cell colonization during metastasis.

To isolate these peritoneal fat depots, begin by taking a euthanized female mouse. Make a midline surgical incision through the peritoneal wall to expose its internal organs. Now, locate the omental fat present over the stomach and pancreatic spleen complex and extract it. Excise the gonadal fat surrounding the ovaries. Further, remove the uterine fat enveloping the uterine horns. Subsequently, cut the junction between the small intestine and pylorus to release the mesenteric fat attached to the intestine. Finally, extract the thin band of splenoportal fat connecting the distal end of the spleen with the pancreas.

Maintain the dissected fat tissues in a suitable chilled buffer to preserve tissue physiology. Analyze these peritoneal fat tissues to assess the presence of colonized metastatic cancer cells.