Orthotopic Homograft Tumor Transplantation: A Technique to Generate Pancreatic Tumor Mouse Models

- During orthotopic homograft tumor transplantation, tumor cells or tumor fragments from a cancerous donor get transplanted into a recipient belonging to the same species at an organ or site that matches the tumor histotype. Begin by taking an anesthetized donor mouse bearing a tumor, containing cells of pancreatic origin. Sterilize the area and surgically harvest the tumor. Wash the tissue to remove the blood and chop it into fragments. Next, place an anesthetized recipient mouse in a right lateral position and sterilize its abdominal area. Surgically expose the spleen.

Next, gently pull out a part of the pancreas from below the spleen. Place the tumor fragment on the pancreas and suture them together. Close the abdomen and allow the mouse to recover in a cage. Monitor the recipient mouse daily to observe the growth of the orthotopic pancreatic tumor. In the following protocol, we will show the orthotopic transplantation of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma homograft from a C57 black 6 donor mouse into the pancreas of a C57 black 6 recipient mouse.

- Monitor the bodyweight of C57 black 6 mice using a balance. Also, monitor the tumor volume of tumor-bearing donor mice by caliper mea