Orthotopic Inoculation of Ovarian Cancer Cells into Murine Ovary: A Procedure to Establish an Ovarian Cancer Mouse Model to Study Peritoneal Dissemination of Cells

To carry out orthotopic inoculation, after anesthetizing an eight-week-old female nude mouse according to the text protocol, perform a toe pinch to verify depth of the anesthesia. Place the anesthetized mouse on an operating stage, belly side down. Then, disinfect the surgical area with several washes using a chlorhexidine-based scrub and alcohol.

Next, make an approximately 2-centimeter vertical incision near the spine, between the right costal arch and the femur. Place a sterile surgical drape around the incision site. Then, fix the incised skin surfaces with clamps to maintain the opening.

Now, make a second 1-centimeter incision at the parietal peritoneum under the first incision to open the abdominal cavity. Then, clamp the incised abdominal surfaces. With a clamp, clip the fat tissue that surrounds the ipsilateral ovary and fallopian tube to remove the ovary from the abdominal cavity.

Then, carefully place the ovary and fallopian tube on gauze before placing the mouse, belly side down, under the dissecting microscope. Transfer the cell suspension to an insulin syringe. Then, immediately and carefully inject 1 to 2 microliters of the prepared cell suspension into the ovary.

For several seconds, keep the needle in the ovary to ensure that the hydrogel sets. After gelation, the injected tumor cells will remain in the ovary. Carefully, return the ovary into the body. With sterile medical silk, suture the second incision before using wound clips to seal the skin.