Home › Biochemistry › Injection of Syngeneic Murine Melanoma Cells to Determine Their Metastatic Potential in the Lungs
Biochemistry JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Injection of Syngeneic Murine Melanoma Cells to Determine Their Metastatic Potential in the Lungs

DOI: 10.3791/54039-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Prepare syngeneic B16-BL6 melanoma cells for tail vein injection
  • ✓ Perform tail vein injection technique in mice
  • ✓ Assess lung metastasis establishment and quantify tumor burden
  • ✓ Evaluate therapeutic efficacy using this metastatic model
Protocol

Metastasis plays a profound role in the virulence of cancer, accounting for an estimated 90% of deaths. We report a protocol for a metastatic melanoma model in mice that is useful for determining the efficacy of therapeutic agents against this clinical phenomenon.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~2–3 weeks (cell preparation 2–3 days; injection ~15 min/mouse; metastasis development 10–21 days)
Model organism
Mouse C57BL/6J
Biosafety
BSL-2

Steps

1
Prepare and culture B16-BL6 melanoma cells

Culture syngeneic murine melanoma B16-BL6 cells to appropriate confluence and viability. Ensure cells are harvested and resuspended at correct concentration for injection.

▶ 00:34
2
Perform tail vein injection of melanoma cells

Inject prepared B16-BL6 cell suspension intravenously via tail vein into recipient mice. Proper injection technique minimizes extravasation and ensures systemic delivery.

▶ 02:49
3
Quantify lung metastasis and assess tumor burden

Harvest lungs and enumerate surface metastatic nodules or use endpoint assays to determine metastatic burden. Document results to establish model efficacy.

▶ 04:59
4
Interpret results and validate metastatic model

Confirm successful establishment of metastatic disease in lungs and readiness for therapeutic intervention studies.

▶ 06:28
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