The A549 Xenograft Model for Lung Cancer

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A long history of reliability accessed in vivo

The A549 xenograft model utilizes a well-characterized cell line first cultured in 1972 from an explanted lung tumor of a 58-year-old caucasian male. A549 cells are one of the most popular cell lines used in the study of NSCLC for over 50 years, and implanting these established cells into mice offers a more realistic environment for testing novel lung cancer drugs in vivo. The A549 xenograft mouse model allows you to test your novel NSCLC drugs in a complex biological environment, helping you better understand your drug’s efficacy.

Accelerate your candidate’s journey to the clinic by easily monitoring its efficacy in a reliable in vivo model utilizing well-established A549 cells.

Advantages of the A549 Xenograft Model

  • Mimic growth and invasive properties of NSCLC tumors accurately.
  • Work with a familiar cell line in a novel 3D environment.
  • Complete experiments faster with high-quality results.
  • Reflect clinical treatment challenges with demonstrated chemotherapy resistance.

Customize your lung cancer research with our bespoke services

Our A549 xenograft model can be prepared in 2 to 3 weeks, with results available after 6 weeks of treatment.

Contact us for more information on our additional and individualized services, including IVIS imaging, PK studies, and metabolic analyses.

Discuss your project with us
  • 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
  • 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 & Gill Chair in Biomolecular Sciences Indiana University, Department of Chemistry
  • Because Melior could do the orthotopic intracranial implants, we were able to do survival studies with brain tumor-bearing animals that were treated with our therapy, showing a beautiful survival with our agent versus control. Talk about something that gets your investors going! These beautiful survival curves with our agent versus control and visual photos are in all of our investor decks because… it's powerful.

    Bruce Ruggeri, Ph.D.

    Modifi Bio
  • Melior works in many therapeutic areas, like CNS, inflammatory disease, GI, cardiovascular, and oncology. I was very pleased that when it came to doing tumor studies, both subcutaneous and intracranial, they did them well. They reported on the studies on time and did the data analysis really well.

    Bruce Ruggeri, Ph.D.

    Modifi Bio
  • Their areas of expertise are extensive, and they are very experienced, responsive, and flexible in terms of how the study is run. Their pricing is reasonable, making them the best option for a young, not well-funded company like ours.

    Maxine Gowen

    Tamuro Bio
  • Melior’s team was very experienced and knowledgeable. They were always very open to suggestions and questions, spending a lot of time helping us feel comfortable with the study design. I would give them very high marks.

    Maxine Gowen

    Tamuro Bio
  • The most important factors in choosing to work with Melior were the fit between the tests they could run and our needs, as well as their tight budget and proximity. Melior was the best fit for our research goals.

    Ira Spector

    SFA Therapeutics

Chemotherapy validation in human lung cancer A549 xenograft model. 5 x106 A549 cells were subcutaneously injected into the rear flank of nude mice. Once the tumor size reached ~100mm3 (Day19), mice were randomized into either the vehicle control group (treated with normal saline), paclitaxel (20 mg/kg, IP twice/week), or cisplatin group (3 mg/kg, IP twice/week). Tumor volume was monitored twice per week using calipers (A). At the end of the study (Day 40), animals were sacrificed, tumors were excised and weighed (B, C). Data are mean ± SEM; n=5 /group; ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001 by Student’s t-test.

Did you know the A549 xenograft model is complementary to our syngeneic LLC model?

Melior makes syngeneic lung cancer models that use mouse rather than human lung cancer cell lines opening up the possibility of immune therapy testing. Our Lewis Lung Cancer (LLC) syngeneic model complements the human A549 xenograft model, and both are models of NSCLC.

Want to know more? Speak to an expert

Related Services and Solutions

Grow your patient-derived tumor cells into 3D lung cancer models

Accurately predict the success of your targeted lung cancer therapeutics with custom patient cell-derived mouse xenografts. Explore patient-specific attributes and accelerate the development of high-impact therapeutics with custom in vivo models.

Learn more about patient-derived xenograft models

Interested in another cancer type?

We have cell line xenograft models for breast, colorectal, brain, kidney, liver, ovary, and prostate cancers.

Explore cancer cell line xenograft models

Complement your xenograft studies with syngeneic models

Expand your insights by complementing your xenograft model studies with our complementary syngeneic models!

Evaluate your immune therapies with our syngeneic models

Publications

Cooper, J. R., Abdullatif, M. B., Burnett, E. C., Kempsell, K. E., Conforti, F., Tolley, H., Collins, J. E., & Davies, D. E. (2016). Long Term Culture of the A549 Cancer Cell Line Promotes Multilamellar Body Formation and Differentiation towards an Alveolar Type II Pneumocyte Phenotype. PloS one, 11(10), e0164438. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164438.

Foster, K. A., Oster, C. G., Mayer, M. M., Avery, M. L., & Audus, K. L. (1998). Characterization of the A549 cell line as a type II pulmonary epithelial cell model for drug metabolism. Experimental cell research, 243(2), 359–366. https://doi.org/10.1006/excr.1998.4172.

Garcia-de-Alba C. (2021). Repurposing A549 Adenocarcinoma Cells: New Options for Drug Discovery. American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology, 64(4), 405–406. https://doi.org/10.1165/rcmb.2021-0048ED.

Wang, W., Fan, H., Zhou, Y., Duan, P., Zhao, G., & Wu, G. (2013). Knockdown of autophagy-related gene BECLIN1 promotes cell growth and inhibits apoptosis in the A549 human lung cancer cell line. Molecular medicine reports, 7(5), 1501–1505. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2013.1379.

Yin, J., Wang, M., Jin, C., & Qi, Q. (2014). miR-101 sensitizes A549 NSCLC cell line to CDDP by activating caspase 3-dependent apoptosis. Oncology letters, 7(2), 461–465. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2013.1725.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are A549 cells in the A549 xenograft model derived from?

A549 are hypotriploid alveolar basal epithelial cells derived from an explanted lung tumor from a 58-year-old caucasian male. In our A549 xenograft model, these human cells are injected into the rear flank of a nude mouse to form a tumor reminiscent of a lung tumor growing in vivo.

This lung cancer model allows you to test drugs on a 3D human tumor in an in vivo environment.

What are the advantages of the A549 xenograft model over the complementary syngenic LLC model?

The A549 xenograft model utilizes human lung tumor cells implanted inside mice, while the LLC syngenic model utilizes mouse cells implanted inside a mouse model.

This means that the A549 xenograft model is more predictive of how a human lung tumor would respond to treatment. Additionally, xenograft models use nude mice, which allows you to measure tumor response to treatment without immune interference.

In contrast, syngeneic models are immunocompetant and are therefore the ideal model for those seeking to test immune-modulating therapies.

How are the A549 cells implanted in the mice?

A549 cells are injected subcutaneously into the rear flank of nude mice where they then grow to form a human lung tumor. This method allows researchers to study tumor growth, metastasis, and the efficacy of their therapeutic agents in a controlled and reproducible in vivo environment.

Citations

  1. The American Cancer Society. Key Statistics for Lung Cancer. Last revised Jan 29, 2024. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/lung-cancer/about/key-statistics.html