RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Imaging Nuclear–Cytoplasmic Dynamics in Primary and Metastatic Colon Cancer in Nude Mice JF Anticancer Research JO Anticancer Res FD International Institute of Anticancer Research SP 2113 OP 2117 VO 36 IS 5 A1 KOSUKE HASEGAWA A1 ATSUSHI SUETSUGU A1 MIKI NAKAMURA A1 TAKURO MATSUMOTO A1 HITOMI AOKI A1 TAKAHIRO KUNISADA A1 MICHAEL BOUVET A1 MASAHITO SHIMIZU A1 ROBERT M. HOFFMAN YR 2016 UL http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/36/5/2113.abstract AB Background: Colon cancer frequently results in metastasis to the liver, where it becomes the main cause of death. However, the cell cycle in primary tumors and metastases is poorly understood. Materials and Methods: We developed a mouse model of liver metastasis using the human colon cancer cell line HCT-116, which expresses green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the nucleus and red fluorescent protein (RFP) in the cytoplasm (HCT-116-GFP-RFP). HCT-116 GFP-RFP cells were injected into the spleen of nu/nu nude mice. Results: HCT-116-GFP-RFP cells subsequently formed primary tumors in the spleen, as well as metastatic colonies in the liver and retroperitoneum by 28 days after cell transplantation. Using an Olympus FV1000 confocal microscope, it was possible to clearly image mitosis of the dual-colored colon cancer cells in the primary tumor as well as liver and other metastases. Multi-nucleate cancer cells, in addition to mono-nucleate cancer cells and their mitosis, were observed in the primary tumor and metastasis. Multi-nucleate HCT-116-GFP-RFP cells were also observed after culture of the primary and metastatic tumors. A similar ratio of mono-nucleate, multi-nucleate, and mitotic cells grew from the primary and metastatic tumors in culture, suggesting similarity of the nuclear–cytoplasmic dynamics of primary and metastatic cancer cells, further emphasizing the stochastic nature of metastasis. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a similar heterogeneity of nuclear–cytoplasmic dynamics within primary tumors and metastases, which may be an important factor in the stochastic nature of metastasis.