Xenograft Mouse Models

Confidently translate your pharmacological research from benchtop to bedside with patient-derived xenograft models.

Our team of scientists can help you select the right model for your application and perform a full in-vivo pharmacological response profile including evaluation of therapeutic response, cell behavior, and tumor metastasis. With a state-of-the-art barrier facility suitable for housing immunodeficient and severely immunocompromised animals on-site, we perform high-quality experiments and deliver data you can trust.

By leveraging our resources, expertise, and fully customizable study designs, you get the data you need to advance immunotherapies and transform the state of oncology treatments.

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Increase your predictive ability with xenograft tumor models

Mouse xenograft models involve the transplantation of cell line-derived xenograft (CDX) or patient-derived xenograft (PDX) into immunodeficient or humanized mice. With these tumor models, you create an environment for growing human cancer, monitoring its progress, and evaluating experimental treatments.

Evaluate your immunotherapeutic agents and combination therapies with xenograft mouse models

Set your research up for success by leveraging our expertise and outsourcing your in vivo experiments.

CDX Models

Test your immunotherapeutic agents and combination therapies in any of our human cell lines.

PDX Models

Explore our PDX models for accurately predicting the clinical success of your targeted cancer therapies. Direct from patient sample to mouse xenograft, PDX models preserve the genetic complexity and tissue heterogeneity of the tumor you are targeting.

  • Increase replicability with tumor genetic stability: PDX models allow for the propagation and expansion of patient tumors without significant genetic transformation of tumor cells over multiple murine generations.
  • Mimic realistic tumor microenvironments: Within PDX models, patient tumor samples grow in physiologically-relevant tumor microenvironments that mimic the oxygen, nutrient, and hormone levels found in the patient’s primary tumor site.
  • Explore patient-specific attributes: Implanted tumor tissue maintains the genetic and epigenetic abnormalities found in the patient.
  • Accelerate therapeutic impact with higher predictive ability: Numerous studies have found PDX models exhibit similar responses to anti-cancer agents seen in the actual patient who provided the tumor sample.
Use your human patient samples in a PDX model

Enhance your study findings with custom services and tools

Get the most out of your study and take advantage of our bespoke add-on services that include IVIS imaging, whole blood, spleen, lymph node analysis, and more.

Get in touch to discuss a custom solution
  • We chose Melior Discovery because they were responsive and cost effective.  We are staying with them as a chosen scientific partner because of their thoughtful scientific input to experimental design and attention to detail.  Their expertise and flexibility allowed us to quickly adapt the study design and evaluate additional outcome measures to pursue unexpected activity.

    Sridharan Rajamani, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist

    Gilead Sciences
  • I have been working with Melior on a number of projects over the course of a few years now.  They have been a great partner throughout this time.  The scientists whom I have worked with have been great problem-solvers and were customer focused

    Jay Lichter

    Avalon Ventures
  • [We] have been impressed with [Melior’s] ability to rapidly and effectively evaluate compounds in animal models…as we strive to identify compounds to ameliorate the devastating symptoms of Rett,

    Monica Coenraads, Executive Director

    Rett Syndrome Research Trust
  • Melior is more than just a service company.  Their experienced staff guided us in our drug development efforts.  We consider Melior an extension of our own research team.

    Josh Schultz

    Carolus Therapeutics
  • Addex Therapeutics has been collaborating with Melior Discovery for more than a year. The studies performed at Melior are always carefully planned and skilfully executed while the progress of the project is well-tracked and communicated to the customer. On several occasions, when testing our compounds in a new in vivo assay, we relied on Melior's scientists in their guidance and advice. We have been particularly pleased with a series of experiments involving assessment of compounds' profiles in the rat sleep/wake EEG. This approach, that has a translational relevance, offered a sensitive measure of a compound's efficacy and side-effects

    Mikhail Kalinichev, Ph.D., Associate Research Director

    Addex Therapeutics
  • Having worked with Melior quite extensively over the past several years, we find the team to be highly knowledgeable, responsive and adaptable to our needs. The overall process has been highly efficient and we are impressed by the quality of their reports

    Christopher Prior, Ph.D., CEO,

    PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals Inc.
  • …to evaluate our lead compound in an EEG-based sleep wake model. Melior’s very experienced team provided valuable insights and recommendations on study design, analysis and interpretation of the data. As a virtual company, Prexa relied on Melior to become an extension of our knowledge team and they met all our expectations

    Pat Baskin and Ev Graham

    Prexa Pharmaceuticals
  • State of-the-art Preclinical Pharmacology
    Melior provided State-of-the-art Preclinical Pharmacology Support for a period of nearly a year where a series of in vivo studies were completed on a weekly basis. The staff was extremely user-friendly and the operational processes were excellent. I can recommend Melior without reservation.

    Richard DiMarchi, PhD

    Cox Professor of Chemistry & Gil Chair in Biomolecular Sciences Indiana University, Department of Chemistry

Chemotherapy validation in human hepatic cancer HepG2 xenograft mouse model. 5 x106 HepG2 were subcutaneously injected into the rear flank of nude mice. Once the tumor size reached ~100mm3, mice were randomized into vehicle control group (treated with normal saline) and cisplatin group (4 mg/kg, i.p twice/week).Data area mean ± SEM; n=6 for vehicle and n=5 for paclitaxel group.

Chemotherapy validation in human breast cancer MCF7 subcutaneous xenograft mouse model. 10 x106 MCF7 cells (with Matrigel) were subcutaneously injected into the rear flank of nude mice. Once the tumor size reached ~100mm3, mice were randomized into the vehicle control group (treated with normal saline) and the paclitaxel group (20 mg/kg, i.p once/week ). Data area mean ± SEM; n=5 for each group.

Get the data you need with customized experiments and expert advice.

Custom-tailored models for your unique research questions.

Reach your discoveries sooner with industry-leading 4-7 week lead times.

Decades worth of experience across a breadth of research areas.

Related Services and Solutions

Are mouse xenograft models right for you?

Xenograft models require immunodeficient or severely immunocompromised mice so the human tumor doesn’t invoke an immune response. To explore treatment response in an intact immune system, consider working in any of our complimentary syngeneic models.

Let us help you find your perfect solution

Developing an immunotherapy? We have a syngeneic model for that.

Syngeneic mouse tumors are immunologically compatible with their host, their intact immune system enables the study of therapies that act on the host immune system.

Evaluate your immune therapies with our syngeneic models

Screen immunotherapies across a range of tumor types with Immuno-theraTRACEⓇ

Test the therapeutic potential of your checkpoint inhibitors and other immune-modulating agents against hot and cold tumors in one oncology platform.

Get high throughput screening for your immune therapies

Publications

Wang, F., Li, H., Markovsky, E., Glass, R., de Stanchina, E., Powell, S. N., … & Haimovitz-Friedman, A. (2018). Pazopanib radio-sensitization of human sarcoma tumors. Oncotarget, 9(10), 9311.

Han, B., Jiang, P., Jiang, L., Li, X., & Ye, X. (2021). Three phytosterols from sweet potato inhibit MCF7-xenograft-tumor growth through modulating gut microbiota homeostasis and SCFAs secretion. Food Research International, 141, 110147.1-21.

Rajabi, M., Gorincioi, E., & Santaniello, E. (2012). Antiproliferative activity of kinetin riboside on HCT-15 colon cancer cell line. Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids, 31(6), 474-481.

Li, R., Xu, C. Q., Shen, J. X., Ren, Q. Y., Chen, D. L., Lin, M. J., … & Wu, J. (2021). 4-Methoxydalbergione is a potent inhibitor of human astroglioma U87 cells in vitro and in vivo. Acta Pharmacologica Sinica, 42(9), 1507-1515.

Chen, X. M., Zhang, M., Fan, P. L., Qin, Y. H., & Zhao, H. W. (2016). Chelerythrine chloride induces apoptosis in renal cancer HEK-293 and SW-839 cell lines. Oncology letters, 11(6), 3917-3924.

Liu, S., Zhao, Y., Cui, H. F., Cao, C. Y., & Zhang, Y. B. (2016). 4-Terpineol exhibits potent in vitro and in vivo anticancer effects in Hep-G2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells by suppressing cell migration and inducing apoptosis and sub-G1 cell cycle arrest. J. Buon, 21(5), 1195-1202.

Feng, S. Q., Wang, G. J., Zhang, J. W., Xie, Y., Sun, R. B., Fei, F., … & Zhou, F. (2018). Combined treatment with apatinib and docetaxel in A549 xenograft mice and its cellular pharmacokinetic basis. Acta Pharmacologica Sinica, 39(10), 1670-1680.

Zhang, L., Kong, L., He, S. Y., Liu, X. Z., Liu, Y., Zang, J., … & Li, X. T. (2021). The anti-ovarian cancer effect of RPV modified paclitaxel plus schisandra B liposomes in SK-OV-3 cells and tumor-bearing mice. Life Sciences, 285, 120013.

Yang, F., Song, L., Wang, H., Wang, J., Xu, Z., & Xing, N. (2015). Combination of quercetin and 2-methoxyestradiol enhances inhibition of human prostate cancer LNCaP and PC-3 cells xenograft tumor growth. PloS one, 10(5), e0128277.

De Angelis, M. L., Francescangeli, F., Nicolazzo, C., Xhelili, E., La Torre, F., Colace, L., … & Zeuner, A. (2022). An orthotopic patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model allows the analysis of metastasis-associated features in colorectal cancer. Frontiers in Oncology, 12, 869485.

Li, W., Chen, W., Wang, J., Zhao, G., Chen, L., Wan, Y., … & Su, Q. (2022). A PDX model combined with CD-DST assay to evaluate the antitumor properties of KRpep-2d and oxaliplatin in KRAS (G12D) mutant colorectal cancer. Heliyon, 8(12).

Schmitt, N., Jann, J. C., Altrock, E., Flach, J., Danner, J., Uhlig, S., … & Nowak, D. (2022). Preclinical evaluation of eltrombopag in a PDX model of myelodysplastic syndromes. Leukemia, 36(1), 236-247.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you offer patient-derived xenograft models (PDX)?

Yes, we do offer PDX models. We can also assist clients with any tumor genotype that can be acquired through NCI.

Do you provide a genotype profile of tumor type? (e.g. HER2-positive or EGFR-positive)

Yes. We provide profiles directly from the cell line resource (ie ATCC). All information is readily available and will be provided to the client upon request.