A Novel Orthotopic Mouse Model of Head and Neck Cancer and Lymph Node Metastasis

Analysis of the genes involved in the metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We hypothesized that there would be overexpression of certain genes in the highly metastatic USC-HN1-GFP-G1 and USC-HN1-GFP-G2 cell lines compared to the parental USC-HN1-GFP cell line. We used the USC-HN1 cell line stably transfected with H2B-GFP and developed an immortal cell line (USC-HN1-GFP), which was injected into the tongues of SCID/nude mice. The metastatic cells were collected at the LN, separated and cultured, forming an immortal USC-HN1-GFP-G1 cell line. These cells were reinjected into the tongues of mice and the USC-HN1-GFP-G2 cell line was formed by the same LN collection method. The gene expression in these three cell lines were compared using Illumina microarray chips.