Essential GC Research Cell Lines: Are You Familiar with Them All?

Essential GC Research Cell Lines: Are You Familiar with Them All?

Gastric Carcinoma (GC) is the 5th most common cancer, with over 1 million newly registered cases in the year 2020 alone. 769,000 deceased cases make GC the fourth most deadly carcinoma. In 2020, a reported 460,000 diagnosed cases and 350,000 deaths render GC the 2nd most diagnosed and the 2nd most lethal amongst malignant cancer types, with nearly 70% of the patients suffering in their later phases and a survival ratio of less than 10% in five years’ span.

Here we present four of the most popular GC cell lines with case debriefs highlighting their characteristics and real-world applications, to help locate your best research candidate!

Catalogue # YC-C151

Sourcing: KATO III is derived from a 55-year old Asian male with multiple GC metastasis sites, including those in pleural effusion, the clavicles, axillary lymph nodes, and the cul-de-sac. It was sampled by M. Sekiguchi et al in 1978.[1]

Characteristics: Epithelial-like morphology with few forming a globular cluster. Mostly adherent with some suspension cells. The KATO III is deemed an appropriate emulator of Circulating Tumour Cells (CTC)’s metastasizing activities.

KATO III in action: Through siRNA-mediated Knockdowns, Okugawa Y et al studied how suppressing the HOTAIR gene can affect phenotype of GC cells, such as MKN45 and KATO III. Subsequent in vivo and in vitro experiments showed significant reduction in cell proliferation, migration and invasion after inhibition of HOTAIR, while promoted anoikis in transfected cells was also observed. These results showed how HOTAIR might facilitate cell’s invasion and migration potential by enhancing the cell’s growth and the survival rate of gastric cancer cell.

Figure 1. HOTAIR down-regulation causes inhibition of colony-forming ability, migration/invasion, and anoikis resistance in GC cell lines.[2]

Catalogue #YC-C079

Sourcing: The HGC-27 was obtained from the lymph node site of metastasis of a GC patient.

Characteristics: Derived from undifferentiated GC, capable of secreting mucins. Has epithelial-like morphology with irregular fusiform or polygonal shapes.

HGC-27 in action:Using CRISPR Cas9 gene-editing technology, Gu Y et al generated HGC027 and HEK 293 cell Knockout models across a series of candidate genes, followed by Phos-tag electrophoresis, to investigate how they respond to YAP phosphorylation differently.

Figure 2. KIRREL1 found to down-regulate YAP[4]

Catalogue #YC-C068

Sourcing: Derived from the stomach of a male GC patient in 1976. NCI-N87 has epithelial and adherent morphology.

Characteristics: The NCI-N87 cells have a propensity of liver metastases, and is capable of tumorigenesis in nude mice. NCI-N87 cells express CEA and TAG 72 in their membrane, but are negative for DDC. Besides, they show poor responsiveness to vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and are lacking GRPRs.

NCI-N87 in action: Through designing a specific siRNA, Wang Q et al performed a knockdown of the P300 gene in NCI-N87 cells, and then observed a decrease in mRNA and protein level of the METTL3 gene. Furthermore, ChIP results showed enriched P300-mediated H3K27 acetylation signals in the promoter region of METTL3, whereas P300 knockdown significantly reduced such signaling. The researchers thereby correlated P300 with up-regulated METTL3 transcription through the acetylation activation of H3K27.

Figure 3. P300 mediates METTL3 transcription through H3K27 acetylation activation[5]

Having in our hands various GC cell line models like KATO III, HGC-27 and NCI-N87, along with gene editing methodologies including CRISPR/Cas9、sh/siRNA、overexpression and so on, a firm connection is being made between upstream studies of molecular mechanisms and clinical applications. Studying gastric cancers not only serve research purposes, but may also bring hope to millions suffering. Ubigene aims at serving our clients with high quality cell models to aid GC research and thereby scientific breakthroughs, just in hope of relieving the burden off of GC patients.

Contact us to know more on gene editing and frontline GC researches!

Reference

[1] Sekiguchi M, Sakakibara K, Fujii G. Establishment of cultured cell lines derived from a human gastric carcinoma. Jpn J Exp Med. 1978 Feb;48(1):61-8. PMID: 209229.

[2] Okugawa Y, Toiyama Y, Hur K, Toden S, Saigusa S, Tanaka K, Inoue Y, Mohri Y, Kusunoki M, Boland CR, Goel A. Metastasis-associated long non-coding RNA drives gastric cancer development and promotes peritoneal metastasis. Carcinogenesis. 2014 Dec;35(12):2731-9. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgu200.

[3] Cao T, Zhang W, Wang Q, Wang C, Ma W, Zhang C, Ge M, Tian M, Yu J, Jiao A, Wang L, Liu M, Wang P, Guo Z, Zhou Y, Chen S, Yin W, Yi J, Guo H, Han H, Zhang B, Wu K, Fan D, Wang X, Nie Y, Lu Y, Zhao X. Cancer SLC6A6-mediated taurine uptake transactivates immune checkpoint genes and induces exhaustion in CD8+ T cells. Cell. 2024 Apr 25;187(9):2288-2304.e27.

[4] Gu Y, Wang Y, Sha Z, He C, Zhu Y, Li J, Yu A, Zhong Z, Wang X, Sun Y, Lan F, Yu FX. Transmembrane protein KIRREL1 regulates Hippo signaling via a feedback loop and represents a therapeutic target in YAP/TAZ-active cancers. Cell Rep. 2022 Aug 30;40(9):111296. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111296.

[5] Wang Q, Chen C, Ding Q, Zhao Y, Wang Z, Chen J, Jiang Z, Zhang Y, Xu G, Zhang J, Zhou J, Sun B, Zou X, Wang S. METTL3-mediated m6A modification of HDGF mRNA promotes gastric cancer progression and has prognostic significance. Gut. 2020 Jul;69(7):1193-1205. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2019-319639.