HT55 Cells

HT55 is a human rectal adenocarcinoma cell line established from the primary rectal tumor of a 54-year-old Caucasian female. The line grows as an adherent monolayer with epithelial-like morphology. HT55 carries multiple heterozygous and homozygous loss-of-function mutations in the APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) tumor suppressor gene, including p.Gln1131Ter, p.Gln1303Ter, p.Arg1463Ser, p.Asn581Tyr, and p.Lys241Ter (all heterozygous), as well as a homozygous p.Arg213Leu substitution. This mutational profile renders HT55 a biologically relevant model of APC-driven colorectal carcinogenesis, reflecting the canonical WNT pathway dysregulation that drives the majority of human colorectal cancers.
HT55 is widely used in colorectal cancer research for studies of WNT/β-catenin signalling, APC tumor suppressor function, drug sensitivity and resistance, and preclinical evaluation of targeted agents against components of the WNT pathway. The line is suitable for in vitro pharmacological assays and xenograft studies in immunocompromised mouse models, providing an adherent, tractable in vitro platform for mechanistic and translational colorectal cancer research. The presence of multiple APC truncation mutations makes HT55 representative of the microsatellite-stable, chromosomally unstable colorectal cancer subtype commonly driven by APC loss-of-function.