Bridging Preclinical Studies to Clinical Success
Humanized Mouse Tumor Models
Offer a clinically relevant platform to study human immune-tumor interactions, accelerating the development of effective and personalized cancer therapies.
Applications of Humanized Mice Tumor Studies
Medicilon’s humanized mouse tumor models provide a highly translational in vivo platform for studying human immune responses within the tumor microenvironment.
By engrafting PBMCs or CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) into immunodeficient mice, these models create a functional human immune system, enabling researchers to evaluate immune checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cell therapies, monoclonal antibodies, and next-generation biologics with greater clinical relevance.
Immunotherapy Evaluation
Study immune checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cell therapies, and monoclonal antibodies.
Tumor-Immune Microenvironment Analysis
Assess immune cell infiltration, cytokine release, and immune evasion mechanisms.
Combination Therapy Studies
Investigate synergies between chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapies.
Personalized Medicine & Biomarker Discovery
Identify predictive biomarkers for patient stratification in clinical trials.
REsearch and Application
Developing Humanized Mouse Models: PBMC, CD34+, and BLT Systems
Medicilon’s humanized mouse models are developed through two primary approaches, each offering different levels of immune system reconstitution tailored to various research needs. (*BLT models are included for reference only, to illustrate the disctinctions among the three approaches.)
PBMC Humanized Mouse Models (huPBMC) - Partial Reconstitution
How it Works:
- Immunodeficient NOG mice are engrafted with human PBMCs via intravenous or intraperitoneal injection.
- Human tumor cells can be implanted before or after PBMC engraftment, depending on the xenograft model’s growth characteristics.
Key Features:
- Rapid human immune cell engraftment, making it an effective choice for short-term oncology studies.
- Strong T and NK cell reconstitution, ideal for evaluating T-cell function and immunotherapy agents.
- Widely used for testing immune checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T therapies, and bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTEs).
Best for Studying:
- T cell immune modulation, including checkpoint inhibitors, T cell engagers, and CAR-T therapy.
- Short-term immuno-oncology studies requiring rapid immune response evaluation.
CD34+ Humanized Mouse Models (huCD34+) - Multiple Lineage Reconstitution
How It Works:
- Severely immunodeficient NOG mice undergo preconditioning with X-ray irradiation to deplete residual murine hematopoietic cells.
- The mice are then engrafted with human CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), allowing for multi-lineage immune cell development over time.
Key Features:
- Stable, long-term human immune cell engraftment, allowing for extended study durations.
- Multi-lineage immune cell development, including B, T, and NK cells, with low but sustained monocyte and NK cell levels.
- Ideal for investigating agents requiring a fully functional immune system, including checkpoint inhibitors and multi-lineage immunotherapies.
Best for Studying:
- Long-term oncology studies involving immune stimulation or suppression mechanisms.
- Efficacy of bispecific antibodies or immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).
BLT Humanized Mouse Models - Complete Reconstitution
How it works:
- NOG mice undergo X-ray preconditioning before being implanted with human fetal liver, thymus, and bone marrow (BM) tissue.
- This approach enables robust immune system reconstitution, closely mimicking human immune responses in vivo.
Key Features:
- Most complete human immune system reconstitution, with well-developed B, T, and NK cell populations.
- Supports long-term immune function studies, including antibody response and antigen presentation research.
- Ideal for modeling autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and immuno-oncology therapies.
Best for Studying:
- Long-term cancer immunotherapy research.
- Investigating human adaptive immune responses in depth.
Comparing PBMC, CD34+, and BLT Humanized Mouse Models
Feature
huPBMC
huCD34+
BLT Humanized Mice
Engraftment
Rapid
Slower, requires 12-14 weeks
Requires fetal liver, thymus, and BM transplantation
Immune Cell Reconstitution
Strong for T and NK cells, poor for B cells
Stable multi-lineage reconstitution of B, T, and NK cells
Most complete immune system development
Graft vs Host Disease (GvHD)
Develops quickly (2-3 weeks)
Delayed or absent
Minimal GvHD risk
Study Length
Short-term (15-20 days)
Long-term
Long-term
Cost
More cost-effective
Higher cost due to extended study duration
Higher due to complex engraftment process
Applications
T cell function studies (e.g., checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T, BiTEs)
Agents requiring full immune system function, long-term immunotherapy research
Antibody response, antigen presentation, autoimmune and infectious disease studies
Humanized Tumor Model Portfolio
Medicilon offers a panel of selection of tumor models in PBMC or HSC (CD34+) humanized mice, enabling precise, disease-relevant studies in immuno-oncology.
Available Humanized Tumor Models:
Cancer Type
Models
- Brain Cancer
U-87 MG
- Breast Cancer
HCC1954, MDA-MB-231, JIMT-1
- Colon Cancer
HT29, LoVo, Ls174T, HT-15
- Gastric Cancer
NCI-N87, NUGC-4
- Leukemia
THP-1
- Lung Cancer
HCC827, NCI-H1975, NCI-H292, A549
- Lymphoma
Raji, TMD8, MOLM-13
- Melanoma
RPMI-8226, NCI-H929, MM.1S
- Ovarian Cancer
OVCAR-3
- Pancreatic Cancer
Capan-2
- Renal Cancer
786-O
- Skin Cancer
A431
Human immune cell engraftment and body weight changes in an hPBMC humanized mouse model, which demonstrating robust T cell reconstitution but highlighting GvHD limitations, making it ideal for short-term immuno-oncology studies.
Animal：Female NOG，~20g
Route of Administration: CD34+ cells, tail vein injection
Results: human immune cell reconstitution in CD34+ humanized NOG mice, achieving a PBMC-like profile by Day 153, supporting long-term immunological studies.
End to end expertise
How Medicilon powers translational medicine
Medicilon enhances translational medicine by providing human-relevant preclinical models, biomarker-driven insights, and regulatory-compliant data, ensuring drug candidates efficiently transition from research to clinical trials.
Preclinical-to-Clinical Integration
Seamless transition from discovery to IND filing.
AI & Data-Driven Decision Making
Advanced PK/PD modeling and biomarker validation.
Global Regulatory Compliance
Meeting FDA, NMPA, and EMA drug approval standards.
Focus on Human Relevance
Using advanced animal models, organ-on-a-chip, and 3D cell cultures.
Integration with Other Oncology Models
Why choose Medicilon for preclinical research?
Study tumor progression in its native environment for improved therapeutic evaluation.
Immunocompetent tumor models for evaluating novel cancer therapies in a controlled setting.
