NCI-N87-Luc Cells

NCI-N87-Luc is a bioluminescent derivative of the human NCI-N87 gastric adenocarcinoma cell line, engineered to stably express a firefly luciferase reporter gene. The parental NCI-N87 cell line was established from a liver metastasis of a gastric tubular adenocarcinoma in a male patient of African descent and is characterized by HER2 (ERBB2) gene amplification and protein overexpression, making it one of the primary preclinical models for HER2-positive gastric cancer. NCI-N87 cells exhibit epithelial morphology and are widely used to evaluate the efficacy of HER2-targeted therapies including trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and trastuzumab-emtansine (T-DM1).

The stable luciferase integration in NCI-N87-Luc enables sensitive, noninvasive bioluminescence imaging (BLI) of tumor burden in subcutaneous and orthotopic xenograft models in immunocompromised hosts. The luminescent signal correlates with viable tumor cell number, supporting longitudinal monitoring of tumor engraftment, growth kinetics, and response to HER2-targeted or chemotherapeutic agents. NCI-N87-Luc is particularly valuable for preclinical evaluation of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bispecific antibodies, and novel HER2-directed strategies in gastric cancer, as well as for high-throughput drug screening applications.

NCI-N87-Luc retains the HER2-amplified molecular phenotype and adherent growth characteristics of the parental NCI-N87 line. The luciferase reporter enhances experimental throughput and sensitivity for in vivo imaging studies. Researchers should confirm luciferase activity, HER2 expression status, and growth kinetics under their specific experimental conditions prior to use in quantitative imaging or pharmacological studies.