Lovo-Luc

LoVo-Luc is a bioluminescent derivative of the human LoVo colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line, engineered to stably express a firefly luciferase reporter gene. The parental LoVo cell line was established from a metastatic left supraclavicular lymph node of a colorectal adenocarcinoma in a 56-year-old male patient and is one of the most widely used colorectal cancer cell lines in cancer research. LoVo cells exhibit epithelial-like morphology and are characterized by microsatellite instability (MSI), deficient mismatch repair (dMMR), and expression of oncogenes including Myc, myb, ras, fos, and p53. These features make LoVo a relevant model for studying mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancer biology and therapeutic responses, including sensitivity to immunotherapy.

The stable luciferase integration in LoVo-Luc enables sensitive, quantitative bioluminescence imaging (BLI) of tumor burden in xenograft models using immunocompromised hosts. The luminescent signal correlates with viable tumor cell number, supporting noninvasive longitudinal monitoring of tumor engraftment, growth kinetics, and treatment response. LoVo-Luc is particularly valuable for preclinical studies evaluating immune checkpoint inhibitors, chemotherapeutic agents, and targeted therapies in the context of MMR-deficient colorectal cancer, as well as for high-throughput drug screening and mechanistic investigations of colorectal cancer biology.

LoVo-Luc retains the established molecular characteristics of the parental LoVo line, including its MSI phenotype, oncogene expression profile, and production of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The luciferase reporter substantially enhances experimental throughput and enables real-time pharmacodynamic assessment of treatment efficacy. Researchers should verify luciferase activity, MMR status, and growth kinetics under their specific experimental conditions prior to use in large-scale preclinical studies.