HCT116-Fluc-Neo/eGFP-Puro is a polyclonal population of the human colorectal carcinoma cell line HCT116 (ATCC® CCL-247™). To achieve stable reporter expression in the polyclonal population, parental HCT116 cells were transduced with LV-Luc2-P2A-Puro (LV012) and LV-eGFP-PGK-Puro (LV031) and selected using G418 and puromycin. LV-Fluc-P2A-Neo encodes the firefly luciferase (Fluc) cDNA linked to the neomycin resistance gene (Neo) via a P2A cleavage peptide under the spleen focus-forming virus (SFFV) promoter. LV-eGFP-PGK-Puro encodes the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) cDNA under the SFFV promoter and the puromycin resistance gene (Puro) under the phosphoglycerate kinase promoter (PGK).

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This cell line has been tested for mycoplasma contamination and is certified mycoplasma free.

The parental HCT116 cell line has been authenticated and certified free of interspecies cross contamination by short tandem repeat (STR) profiling with 9 STR loci.

Replication Competent Lentivirus (RCL) Test (including a test report) is available for this cell line at an added cost.  Contact us to learn more.

Morphology

Low and high density cell morphology (200x)

eGFP Expression

Histograms showing GFP expression in HCT116-Fluc-Neo/eGFP-Puro (green) versus control HCT-Fluc-Neo cells (gray)

Luciferase Expression

10⁴, 10⁵, or 10⁶ cells were placed in wells of a 96-well plate and 0.3 mg of d-luciferin was added to the indicated wells. The plate was immediately imaged using a Xenogen IVIS Spectrum.

In Vivo Imaging

10⁷ HCT116-Fluc-Puro cells (Imanis Life catalog #CL008) were injected subcutaneously into the right flanks of female NCR athymic mice. Mice were imaged at day 0 on the day of cell implantation and at days 7 and 16 using a Perkin Elmer IVIS® Spectrum system, at 10-15 minutes post intraperitoneal injection of D-luciferin at 150 mg/kg. Tumor size was measured using calipers. Data from a representative mouse (ID#4772) is shown.

Complete Growth Medium: DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS, 1X Penicillin/Streptomycin, 0.5 mg/mL G418, and 1 µg/mL puromycin.

The addition of G418 and puromycin to the complete growth medium maintains high dual reporter expression over continued passage of the cells. It is highly recommended, especially if the cells undergo multiple passages prior to being used for studies.

These cells should be grown in the indicated medium and passaged when they reach confluency. For routine passaging, cells are recommended to be split at a 1:10 ratio every 3-4 days.

HCT116 cells can detach from tissue culture surfaces upon repeated washing. Coating culture plates with poly-D-Lysine prior to use is recommended for applications involving frequent washes or culture media changes.

These cells are suitable for in vitro and in vivo experimentation. HCT116 cells are a xenograph model for colorectal carcinoma and will form primary tumors and distant metastases (lung, liver, and lymph nodes) post-implantation into immunosupressed mice.^1,2

The Fluc transgene facilitates in vivo noninvasive bioluminescent imaging of implanted cells. eGFP is not recommended for whole animal in-live imaging. Rather, samples can be collected postmortem for analysis by conventional fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry.

The cells can be amplified in vitro and used to generate additional frozen stocks. Cryopreservation of low passage stocks is recommended. Frozen stocks should be preserved in a designated cryopreservation medium.

These cells were generated via lentiviral vector transduction. The lentiviral vector used for transduction was a self-inactivating (SIN) vector in which the viral enhancer and promoter have been deleted. Transcription inactivation of the LTR in the SIN provirus increases biosafety by preventing mobilization by replication competent viruses and enables regulated expression of the genes from the internal promoters without cis-acting effects of the LTR³. Nevertheless, all work with these cells should be performed under biosafety-level 2 (BSL2) conditions by trained personnel. Institutional requirements may permit handling of these cells under BSL1 conditions if certain criteria are met.

References:
¹Brattain et al. Cancer Res. 1981. 41:1751-1756.
²Yang et al. Anticancer Res. 1997. 17:3463-3468.
³Miyoshi et al. J Virol 1998. 72:8150-8157.