An Orthotopic Transplantation Model of Retinoblastoma in Beagles Mimicking Vitreous Seeds: A Novel Gateway for Investigation of Anticancer Drugs

Abstract

Purpose : To develop a novel orthotopic transplantation model of retinoblastoma model in beagles which mimics vitreous seeds.

Methods : SNUOT-Rb1 and Y79 cells from 2 different retinoblastoma cell lines were injected into the vitreous cavity of beagles. At 6 weeks after the injection, the eyes were enucleated and processed for further analyses. Retinoblastoma cells isolated from the vitreous cavity were evaluated for proliferation and retinoblastoma cell markers to confirm that the retinoblastoma cells maintained their characteristics.

Results : At 6 weeks after the injection of SNUOT-Rb1 and Y79 cells, the clumps of retinoblastoma cells were evident in the vitreous cavity of beagles. Surprisingly, the isolated cells from the clumps demonstrated similar shapes to retinoblastoma cells and the viability over 98%. Further proliferation assay, western blotting, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction also showed that isolated cells possessed their characteristics as retinoblastoma cells.

Conclusions : This beagle retinoblastoma model mimics vitreous seeds in retinoblastoma patients. We expect that this model will be utilized for the development of novel therapeutic options for retinoblastoma.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.

 

Representative photographs of SNUOT-Rb1 cells before the injection into the vitreous cavity (A) and isolated from the vitreous cavity after 6 weeks from the injection (B). Scale bar, 50 µm.