Name: monitoring breast cancer growth and metastatic colony formation in mice using bioluminescence
Uploaded: 2021-11-05T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Monitoring Breast Cancer Growth and Metastatic Colony Formation in Mice using Bioluminescence at JoVE.com

We thank the members of the Y.D.S. laboratory. We would like to thank The Wohl Institute for Translational Medicine at the Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, for providing the small animal imaging facility. This study was supported by Research Career Development Award from the Israel Cancer Research Fund.

All mouse experiments were carried out under the Hebrew University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee-approved protocol MD-21-16429-5. In addition, the Hebrew University is certified by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC).
1. Cell line maintenance
NOTE: The human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-468, and MDA-MB-231) were used in this protocol.
<ol>
	<li>Culture all the breast cancer cell lines in Dulb...

<ol>
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Animal-based experiments are obligatory for cancer research7,8,9, and indeed many protocols have been developed3,6,10,11,12,13,14. However, most of these studies determined the biological effect onl...

Breast cancers are frequent types of cancer worldwide, with approximately 250,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States1. Despite its high incidence, a new set of anticancer drugs has significantly improved breast cancer patient outcomes2. However, these treatments are still inadequate, as many patients experience disease relapse and metastatic spread to vital organs2, which is the primary cause of patient morbidity and mortality. Therefore, one of the main challenges in breast cancer research is identifying the molecular mechanisms regulating the formation of distal metastases to develop new means to inhibit their development.
Cancer metastasis is a dynamic process in which cells detach from the primary tumor and invade neighboring tissues through the blood circulation. Thus, animal models in which the cells undergo a similar metastatic cascade can facilitate the identification of the mechanisms that govern this process3,4. Additionally, these in vivo models are essential for developing breast cancer therapeutic agents5,6. However, these orthotopic models cannot indicate the actual tumor growth kinetics as the effect is only determined upon termination. Therefore, we established a luciferase-based tool to detect tumor development and metastatic colonization in real time. Additionally, these cells express GFP to detect the metastatic colonies. This approach is relatively simple and does not involve any invasive procedures3. Thus, combining luciferase and fluorescence detection is a helpful strategy to advance the preclinical studies of breast cancer therapeutics and disease management.

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			<td>1.7 mL eppendorf tubes</td>
			<td>Lifegene</td>
			<td>LMCT1.7B-500</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td>10 &#181;L tips</td>
			<td>Lifegene</td>
			<td>LRT10</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td>1000 &#181;L tips</td>
			<td>Lifegene</td>
			<td>LRT1000</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td>15 mL tubes</td>
			<td>Lifegene</td>
			<td>LTB15-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>200 &#181;L tips</td>
			<td>Lifegene</td>
			<td>LRT200</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>6 well cell culture plate</td>
			<td>COSTAR</td>
			<td>3516</td>
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			<td>96 well Plates BLACK flat bottom</td>
			<td>Bar Naor</td>
			<td>BN30496</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr>
			<td>Automated Cell Counters</td>
			<td>Thermofisher</td>
			<td>A50298</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td>BD FACSAria III sorter</td>
			<td>BD</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
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			<td>BD Microlance 3 Needles 27 G (3/4&#39;&#39;)</td>
			<td>BD</td>
			<td>302200</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr>
			<td>BD Plastipak Syringes 1 mL x 120</td>
			<td>BD</td>
			<td>303172</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr>
			<td>Corning 100 mm x 20 mm Style Dish</td>
			<td>CORNING</td>
			<td>430167</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr>
			<td>Corning 150 mm x 20 mm Style Dish</td>
			<td>CORNING</td>
			<td>430599</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Countess cell counting chamber slides</td>
			<td>Thermofisher</td>
			<td>C10228</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dulbecco&#39;s modified Eagle&#39;s medium (DMEM), high glucose, no glutamine</td>
			<td>Biological Industries</td>
			<td>01-055-1A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Eclipse 80i microscope</td>
			<td>Nikon</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>eppendorf Centrifuge 5810 R</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>EP5820740000</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr>
			<td>Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)</td>
			<td>Biological Industries</td>
			<td>04-127-1A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FUW GFP</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Gifted from Dr. Yossi Buganim&#39;s lab (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HEK293T</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Gifted from Dr. Lior Nissim&#39;s lab (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Isoflurane, USP Terrell</td>
			<td>Piramal</td>
			<td>NDC 66794-01-25</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>IVIS Spectrum In Vivo Imaging System</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer</td>
			<td>124262</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-Glutamine Solution</td>
			<td>Biological industries</td>
			<td>03-020-1A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Living Image Software</td>
			<td>PerkinElmer</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>bioluminescence measurement</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MCF-7</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>ATCC HTB-22</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td>MDA-MB-231</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>ATCC HTB-26</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MDA-MB-468</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>ATCC HTB-132</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pasteur pipettes</td>
			<td>NORMAX</td>
			<td>2430-475</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PBS</td>
			<td>Hylabs</td>
			<td>BP655/500D</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCMV-dR8.2-dvpr</td>
			<td>Addgene</td>
			<td>#8455</td>
			<td>Provided by David M. Sabatini&#8217;s lab (Whitehead institute, Boston, USA)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCMV-VSV-G</td>
			<td>Addgene</td>
			<td>#8454</td>
			<td>Provided by David M. Sabatini&#8217;s lab (Whitehead institute, Boston, USA)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin-Streptomycin Solution</td>
			<td>Biological Industries</td>
			<td>03-031-1B</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Petri dish 90 mm (90x15)</td>
			<td>MINI PLAST</td>
			<td>820-090-01-017</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pipettes 10ml</td>
			<td>Lifegene</td>
			<td>LG-GSP010010S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pipettes 25ml</td>
			<td>Lifegene</td>
			<td>LG-GSP010050S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pipettes 5ml</td>
			<td>Lifegene</td>
			<td>LG-GSP010005S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pLX304 Luciferase-V5 blast plasmid</td>
			<td>Addgene</td>
			<td>#98580</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Polybrene</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>#107689</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Prism 9</td>
			<td>GraphPad</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Reagent Reservoirs</td>
			<td>Bar Naor</td>
			<td>BN20621STR200TC</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SMZ18 Stereo microscopes</td>
			<td>Nikon</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium Chloride</td>
			<td>Bio-Lab</td>
			<td>190359400</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Syringe filters</td>
			<td>Lifegene</td>
			<td>LG-FPV403030S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trypan Blue 0.5% solution</td>
			<td>Biological industries</td>
			<td>03-102-1B</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr>
			<td>Trypsin EDTA Solution B (0.25%), EDTA (0.05%)</td>
			<td>Biological Industries</td>
			<td>03-052-1a</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr>
			<td>Vacuum driven Filters</td>
			<td>SOFRA LIFE SCIENCE</td>
			<td>SPE-22-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Virusolve</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>disinfectant</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>VivoGlo Luciferin, In Vivo Grade</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>P1043</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>X-tremeGENE HP DNA Transfection Reagent</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>#6366236001</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

monitoring breast cancer growth and metastatic colony formation in mice using bioluminescence

Breast cancer is a frequent heterogeneous malignancy and the second leading cause of mortality in women, mainly due to distant organ metastasis. Several animal models have been generated, including the widely used orthotopic mouse models, where cancer cells are injected into the mammary fat pad. However, these models cannot help monitor tumor growth kinetics and metastatic colonization. Cutting-edge tools to monitor cancer cells in real time in mice will significantly advance the understanding of tumor biology. 
Here, breast cancer cell lines stably expressing luciferase and green fluorescent protein (GFP) were established. Specifically, this technique contains two sequential steps initiated by measuring the luciferase activity in vitro and followed by the implantation of the cancer cells into mammary fat pads of nonobese diabetic-severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD-SCID) mice. After the injection, both the tumor growth and metastatic colonization are monitored in real time by the noninvasive bioluminescence imaging system. Then, the quantification of GFP-expressing metastases in the lungs will be examined by fluorescence microscopy to validate the observed bioluminescence results. This sophisticated system combining luciferase and fluorescence-based detection tools evaluates cancer metastasis in vivo, which has great potential for use in breast cancer therapeutics and disease management.

We generated breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-468) expressing GFP and luciferase vectors. Specifically, this was achieved by a sequential infection. First, the breast cancer cell lines were infected with a lentivirus vector expressing fluorescent GFP. The GFP-positive cells (GFP+) were sorted 2 days post-infection (Figure 1A,B) and infected with the pLX304 Luciferase-V5 vector. Then, blasticidin was used to select for luciferase to generate ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Monitoring Breast Cancer Growth and Metastatic Colony Formation in Mice using Bioluminescence at JoVE.com

Monitoring Breast Cancer Growth and Metastatic Colony Formation in Mice using Bioluminescence

Here, we describe a noninvasive monitoring method involving luciferase and green fluorescent protein expression in various breast cancer cell lines. This protocol provides a technique to monitor tumor formation and metastatic colonization in real time in mice.

Breast cancer is a frequent heterogeneous malignancy and the second leading cause of mortality in women, mainly due to distant organ metastasis. Several ...

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