An in vivo rat model for visualizing glioma tumor cell invasion using stable persistent expression of the green fluorescent protein

In our studies examining mechanisms of brain tumor cell migration/invasion into host tissue, the RT2 rat glioma cell line was stably transfected utili zing a green fluorescent protein (GFP) DNA construct. Stable transfected RT 2 cells demonstrate high GFP expression at initial passages, maintain expre ssion over 30 passages and have similar in vitro and in vivo growth pattern s relative to controls, In rat brain tissue, individual tumor cells can be detected without any post-treatment. Using flow cytometry and cell sorting, we are able to retrieve and culture GFP positive cells from tumor core as well as adjacent tissue and contralateral hemisphere of tumor-bearing anima ls. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.