Abstract: ObjectiveTo establish a nude mouse model of orthotopic engineered gastric tumor forin vivo fluorescence imaging
studies.MethodsAn engineered gastric tumor was constructedin vitro using collagen as the scaffold and the human gastric
cancer cell line BGC823-EGFP cells expressing enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) as the seed cells. The engineered
tumor was then implanted into the stomach of nude mice, and the tumor growth was observed with in vivo fluorescence
imaging. The nude mice were sacrificed 6weeks after the transplantation to assess the tumor growth and metastasis, and the
tumor histology was evaluated. ResultsThe tumor cells in the engineered tumor model grew well in three-dimensional
culture. The success rate of orthotopic gastric tumor implantation was 100% (10/10) in nude mice with metastasis in the
abdominal organs. The isolated tumor mass, weighing 1.719±0.349 g, showed a histological characteristic of poorly
differentiated adenocarcinoma.In vivofluorescence imaging detected EGFP-expressing tumors in the abdominal cavity of the
nude mice, but not accurately.ConclusionThe nude mouse model bearing orthotopic engineered gastric tumor provides a
simple animal model for the study of gastric cancer, but a stronger fluorescence than green fluorescence is more desirable for
more effective observation inin vivofluorescence imaging.