Athymic Nude Mice as an Experimental Model for Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Athymic nude mice, a murine strain bearing spontaneous deletion in the Foxn1 gene that causes deteriorated or absent thymus (which results in inhibited immune system with reduction of number of T cells), represent a widely used model in cancer research having long lasting history as a tool for preclinical testing of drugs. The review describes three models of athymic mice that utilize cancer cell lines to induce tumors. In addition, various methods that can be applied in order to evaluate activity of anticancer agents in these models are shown and discussed. Although each model has certain disadvantages, they are still considered as inevitable instruments in many fields of cancer research, particularly in finding new drugs that would more effectively combat the cancer disease or enhance the use of current chemotherapy. Finally, the review summarizes strengths and weaknesses as well as future perspectives of the athymic nude mice model in cancer research.

Progress Toward Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Elimination, and Toxicity of DNA Nanostructures

“…During assembly, quantum dots were incorporated into the structures to provide high contrast for monitoring biodistribution following tail‐vein injection in athymic Balb/c mice bearing orthotopic breast tumors. Athymic Balb/c mice have deficient adaptive immunity due to the reduced production of T‐cells . Fluorescence imaging was monitored from 1 to 24 h, and during this period all three nanostructures accumulated to a greater extent in tumors compared to bare M13 DNA or free quantum dots.…”

Selected Aspects of Allo- And Xenograft Model Applications for Developing Novel Anti-Cancer Vaccines and Oncolytic Viruses

“…[30]. В настоящее время рассматриваются три основные модели индукции опухоли: ортотопическая, гетеротопическая и метастатическая [61,73]. В ортотопической модели опухолевые клетки вводятся в место происхождения опухоли.…”

“…Для ксенотрансплантации могут быть использованы как клеточные линии (Cellline-derived xenografts), так и клетки и фрагменты опухоли, полученные от пациентов в результате биопсии (Patient-derived xenografts). На данный момент создано большое количество различных линий иммунодефицитных мышей и крыс, которые могут быть использованы для ксенотрансплантации человеческих опухолей [33,73]. Такие модели могут быть успешно использованы для трансплантации как различных опухолевых клеточных линий, так и материала, полученного от пациентов, страдающих от онкологических заболеваний.…”

“…На данный момент описано более 200 различных раковых заболеваний. Разработка средств иммунотерапии, противораковых вакцин и онколитических вирусов является перспективным способом борьбы с раковыми заболеваниями [73].…”

Anti-tumor efficacy of CKD-516 in combination with radiation in xenograft mouse model of lung squamous cell carcinoma

“…anti-cancer efficacy [17]. Four-week old male Balb/c nude mice, with an average weight of 20 g were purchased from Orient Bio (Seoul, Korea) and maintained under specific pathogen-free conditions.…”