SW480-Luc

SW480-Luc is a bioluminescent derivative of the human SW480 colon adenocarcinoma cell line, engineered to stably express a firefly luciferase reporter gene. The parental SW480 cell line was established from a primary colon adenocarcinoma of a 51-year-old Caucasian male patient and is widely used as a model of primary colorectal cancer. SW480 cells exhibit epithelial-like morphology and harbor key oncogenic mutations including KRAS G12V, TP53 R273H and P309S, and APC truncation, making this line a relevant model for studying the role of Wnt/β-catenin and KRAS signaling in colorectal cancer. Importantly, SW480 was derived from the same patient as SW620 but represents the primary tumor, allowing comparative studies of primary versus metastatic colorectal cancer biology.

The stable luciferase integration in SW480-Luc enables sensitive, quantitative bioluminescence imaging (BLI) of tumor burden in subcutaneous and orthotopic xenograft models using immunocompromised hosts. The emitted luminescent signal correlates with viable tumor cell number, supporting noninvasive longitudinal monitoring of tumor engraftment, growth kinetics, and therapeutic response. SW480-Luc is widely used for in vivo evaluation of KRAS-targeted agents, Wnt pathway inhibitors, and chemotherapeutic regimens in colorectal cancer, as well as for comparative studies with the matched metastatic SW620 line.

SW480-Luc retains the established molecular characteristics of the parental SW480 line, including KRAS, TP53, and APC mutations. The luciferase modification substantially enhances experimental throughput and sensitivity for in vivo pharmacodynamic studies. Researchers should verify luciferase activity, mutational profile, and growth kinetics under their specific experimental conditions prior to large-scale preclinical use.