DU 145 / DU 145-luc Orthotopic Mouse Model Service for Prostate Cancer

The DU 145 / DU 145-luc orthotopic mouse model grafts a classic human androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line directly into the prostate gland of immunodeficient mice, recreating primary tumor growth and lymph node spread in a setting that closely mirrors the clinical disease. Alfa Cytology provides this model as a fully managed preclinical service, covering authenticated human cell sourcing, precision intra-prostatic implantation, luciferase-guided longitudinal monitoring, therapeutic intervention, and terminal histopathology — giving sponsors a dependable human-tumor platform without diverting internal resources into specialized mouse surgery.

Overview of DU 145 / DU 145-luc Orthotopic Mouse Model for Prostate Cancer

DU 145 is one of the most established human prostate carcinoma cell lines in cancer research, isolated in the late 1970s by Stone and colleagues from a metastatic brain lesion of a 69-year-old male patient with prostate adenocarcinoma. The line displays epithelial morphology, an adherent growth pattern, and a hypotriploid karyotype of roughly 61–62 chromosomes. It occupies a distinctive biological niche among the commonly used prostate cancer lines: DU 145 expresses low levels of androgen receptor but is functionally androgen non-responsive, secretes no prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and carries a mutant p53 while retaining PTEN — a molecular profile that has made it a standard vehicle for modeling castration-resistant, hormone-refractory disease. The cells are moderately metastatic, sit between the low-metastatic LNCaP and the highly aggressive PC-3 in this respect, and form grade-II adenocarcinomas resembling prostatic primaries when xenografted into nude mice.

Fig 1. In vivo bioluminescence tracking of orthotopic DU145-luc tumors (mock/Naa10p/shNaa10p), gross tumor images, tumor weights, and ex vivo BLI of metastatic organs. (Lin, Yung-Wei, et al., 2020)

Implanting DU 145 orthotopically — into the dorsal prostate lobes rather than the flank — has proven particularly informative. Classic studies reported 100% tumorigenicity after intra-prostatic inoculation in nude mice, together with spontaneous metastases to para-aortic lymph nodes; cells recovered from such metastases gave rise to the more aggressive DU 145 MN1 subline after re-implantation, demonstrating how the orthotopic route can be used to select and study metastatic phenotypes. The luciferase-tagged derivative, DU 145-luc, adds firefly luciferase (commonly the Luc2 reporter introduced by lentiviral transduction), allowing tumor establishment, local progression, and response to therapy to be followed serially and quantitatively by bioluminescence imaging in the same animal. For preclinical teams, the DU 145 / DU 145-luc orthotopic model therefore couples a well-characterized human androgen-independent tumor with the anatomical realism and imaging tractability needed for translational efficacy studies.

Cell Line Information: DU 145 / DU 145-luc

DU 145 (ATCC HTB-81) was established from a brain metastasis of a patient with prostatic adenocarcinoma and is maintained by the American Type Culture Collection. The DU 145-luc variant carries a stably integrated firefly luciferase reporter (typically Luc2, delivered by lentiviral transduction) that preserves parental growth behavior while enabling optical tracking of tumors. The main characteristics are summarized below.

Our Services

Engaging Alfa Cytology for the DU 145 / DU 145-luc orthotopic model means every technical detail is handled by a dedicated preclinical team: immunodeficient hosts are sourced and acclimated, DU 145 or luciferase-tagged cells are quality-controlled and prepared at defined doses, sterile microsurgery delivers the inoculum into the dorsal prostate lobes, serial bioluminescence imaging confirms engraftment and tracks tumor burden, and your treatment schedule and terminal histopathology plan are executed end-to-end under IACUC-compliant conditions — all reported back in a clean, audit-ready data package.

Workflow of DU 145 / DU 145-luc Orthotopic Mouse Model Construction

Building this model unites human cell line quality control, immunodeficient host logistics, microsurgical orthotopic implantation, and optical monitoring. The sequence below reflects how a typical study is executed.

1. Cell preparation and quality control: DU 145 or DU 145-luc cells are expanded in authenticated culture, verified mycoplasma-free, STR-confirmed, and luciferase activity is validated in vitro before any animal work.
2. Host selection and acclimation. Immunodeficient mice: athymic nude mice around 6 weeks of age, or more profoundly immunocompromised strains where required — are quarantined and acclimated in a barrier facility.
3. Anesthesia and exposure of the prostate: Under isoflurane anesthesia, a roughly 1 cm midline lower-abdominal incision is made; the bladder and seminal vesicles are exteriorized, and gentle retraction of the seminal vesicles exposes the dorsal prostate lobes.
4. Intra-prostatic inoculation: A single-cell suspension (on the order of 7 × 10⁵ cells, or about 2 × 10⁶ cells per lobe depending on study design) in a small volume such as 17.5–35 μL PBS, typically mixed 1:1 with Matrigel, is injected into the prostate lobes through a fine needle.
5. Closure and postoperative management: The peritoneum is sutured and the skin closed with staples or suture; analgesia (for example meloxicam) is administered immediately and the following day, with staples removed once the incision has healed.
6. Engraftment check and longitudinal imaging: For luciferase-tagged cohorts, bioluminescence imaging is performed about 24 hours after implantation to verify delivery efficiency, then on a weekly cadence after intraperitoneal D-luciferin injection to follow tumor growth in individual animals; ultrasound may complement imaging where anatomical detail is needed.
7. Treatment administration and monitoring: Mice are randomized into arms on the basis of tumor signal, test articles are dosed according to protocol, and body weight, clinical signs, and imaging data are collected at defined intervals.
8. Endpoint analysis and reporting: At termination, primary tumors and para-aortic lymph nodes are resected, weighed, and measured; tissues are processed for H&E and immunohistochemistry, metastasis is assessed, and findings are compiled into a final report.

Fig 2. DU 145 / DU 145-luc orthotopic mouse model construction workflow.

Case Study-DU 145 / DU 145-luc Orthotopic Mouse Model Development

Alfa Cytology has applied the DU 145 / DU 145-luc orthotopic platform in preclinical studies spanning small-molecule efficacy testing, biologic and combination regimens, and radiotherapy-interaction questions in an androgen-independent prostate cancer context. In these programs, within-animal bioluminescence tracking quantified tumor establishment and therapeutic response over time, while terminal workups — tumor weights, lymph node examination, and histopathological review — completed the pharmacological assessment. Study-specific parameters such as cell dose, imaging schedule, and endpoint panels are configured individually for each engagement. Supporting case materials can be shared under confidentiality agreements upon request.

Why Choose Alfa Cytology?

An orthotopic human xenograft study succeeds or fails on the consistency of its surgery and the quality of its imaging and endpoints. Alfa Cytology controls each of these elements directly, making the DU 145 / DU 145-luc orthotopic model a reliable component of your preclinical workflow.

• Deep experience with human prostate xenografts, from cell banking through intra-prostatic microsurgery.
• In-house luciferase imaging capability for serial, quantitative, noninvasive tumor tracking in individual animals.
• A well-characterized androgen-independent tumor biology suited to castration-resistant disease questions.
• Demonstrated lymph node metastatic readouts after orthotopic implantation, supporting metastasis-focused studies.
• Configurable study designs, covering cell dose, Matrigel co-injection, imaging cadence, and castration arms where needed.
• Full-spectrum terminal pathology, including H&E, immunohistochemistry, and lymph node metastasis screening.
• IACUC-compliant operations with documented welfare standards and audit-ready records throughout the study.

Contact Us

Want to put the DU 145 / DU 145-luc orthotopic model to work in your next prostate cancer study? Contact us today to discuss cell dose, imaging schedules, and endpoint panels with our scientific team. Reach out for a confidential consultation and project quotation — Alfa Cytology is ready to support your program from first design to final report.

For research use only. Not intended for any clinical use.