Zebrafish Tumor Graft Transplantation to Grow Tumors

Angiosarcoma is a clinically aggressive tumor with a high rate of mortality. It can arise in vascular or lymphatic tissues, involve any part of the body, and aggressively spread locally or metastasize. Angiosarcomas spontaneously develop in the tp53 deleted (tp53(del/del)) zebrafish mutant. However, established protocols for tumor dissection and transplantation of single cell suspensions of angiosarcoma tumors result in inferior implantation rates. To resolve these complications, we developed a new tumor grafting technique for engraftment of angiosarcoma and similar tumors in zebrafish, which maintains the tumor microenvironment and has superior rates of engraftment.