How it works
Create physiological cell culture models in 15 min
Cell Delivery/Animal Experiments
LunaGel™ products can also be used for in vivo implantation allowing the investigation of, for example, the effects of ECM stiffness on EMT and cancer metastasis. Figure 7 demonstrates that delivery of LunaGel™-embedded luciferase-labelled OV-MZ-6 ovarian cancer cells led to primary tumour formation and metastases in mice. Treatment with the drug Paclitaxel (similar to Abraxane) led to decreased tumour burden, and, in particular, reduced incidence of metastases, similar to the in vitro studies shown above.
Application of LunaGel™ as cell delivery vehicle in an intraperitoneal animal model (Loessner, et al, Nature Protocols, 2018).
(a) Luciferase-transduced ovarian cancer cells (OV-MZ-6) were encapsulated in LunaGel™ and bioluminescence indicative of spheroid formation was confirmed at day 14 of in vitro pre-culture. (b) Bioluminescence imaging confirmed substantial tumour formation 8 weeks following implantation and ex vivo imaging of the peritoneal organs indicated the presence of metastases. Human-derived tumour load was confirmed by positive staining for human-specific nuclear mitotic apparatus protein 1 (NuMA). (c) 4 weeks following implantation, mice were treated with intraperitoneal paclitaxel injections (10 mg/kg administered twice per week) over 4 weeks, leading to decreased tumour load and metastases.
Interested to see more example applications?
