HeLa cell line xenograft tumor as a suitable cervical cancer model: growth kinetic characterization and immunohistochemistry array.
BACKGROUND
Cervical cancer is the seventh most common malignancy in both genders combined and the third most common cancer in women. Despite significant progress in treatments, cervical cancer is not completely curable. Therefore, further research is necessary in this area. Animal models are one of the most practical tools in the field of cancer research. The present study aimed to characterize the growth behavior and surface markers of HeLa cells after heterotopic and systemic inoculation to athymic nude mice.


METHODS
Ten 6-week old female athymic C57BL/6 nude mice were used in this study. HeLa cells were inoculated into the flank or tail vein. The tumor volume was calculated and growth curves were drawn. Tumor-bearing mice were sacrificed and the lesions obtained after harvesting were analyzed in a pathology lab. Subsequently, one slide per tumor was stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and other slides were stained immunohistochemically by cytokeratins (CK), vimentin, P53, CD34, and Ki-67.


RESULTS
Tumor take rate, mean doubling time and latency period were 94.4%, 5.29 ± 3.57 days and 15.27 days, respectively. H&E results revealed highly malignant hyperchromatin epithelial cells. Immunohistochemical examination of the heterotopic tumors indicated greater expression of CK and less expression of vimentin compared to the metastatic ones. Sixty percent of cells were P53-positive and more than 80% were Ki-67-positive. CD34 expression indicated the intensity of angiogenesis in tumor.


CONCLUSIONS
This study represents a comprehensive description of a HeLa xenograft model for in vivo investigations, enabling researchers to assess new treatments for cervical cancer.
1)Cancer Models Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences Tehran, Iran. 2)Omid Institute for Advanced Biomodels, Incubation Center for Medical Divices, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Motahareh
M
Arjomandnejad
Cancer Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ahad
A
Muhammadnejad
Vali-e-Asr Reproductive Health Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mahnaz
M
Haddadi
Cancer Models Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences Tehran, Iran.
Narjes
N
Sherkat-Khameneh
Cancer Models Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences Tehran, Iran.
Sanaz
S
Rismanchi
1)Cancer Models Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences Tehran, Iran. 3)Cancer Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Saeid
S
Amanpour
Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Samad
S
Muhammadnejad
D000818:Animals; D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000032:analysis; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000556:secondary*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006367:HeLa Cells; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007633:Keratins / Q000032:analysis; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000556:secondary*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008819:Mice, Nude; D013997:Time Factors; D047368:Tumor Burden; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology*; D014746:Vimentin / Q000032:analysis
D018952:Antigens, CD34; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D014746:Vimentin; D007633:Keratins