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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2024 Mar 28.
Published in final edited form as: Methods Mol Biol. 2023;2614:247–260. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2914-7_15

Fig. 1. Orthotopic implantation of breast-cancer-patient-derived xenograft tissue fragments with glycated collagen-I/BME hydrogels.

Fig. 1

An inverted Y incision is made in the skin of the abdominal area. A skin flap is pulled back on one side, and the connection between the #4 and #5 mammary glands is severed with a cauterizing pen. The inguinal lymph node (#4 mammary gland) is located, and the mammary gland from the lymph node to the nipple (including the lymph node) is removed. A 50 μL volume of collagen-I/BME hydrogel (Col1/BME) is injected into the remaining portion of the mammary fat pad. If both #4 mammary glands will be implanted, this process is repeated on the opposite mouse flank. Returning to the first cleared and Col1/BME injected fat pad after waiting at least 3 min for the hydrogel to warm at the site of injection, thin tip cross-action forceps are used to make a pocket in the clear mammary fat pad. A patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tissue fragment is then placed over the mammary fat pad, and forceps are used to push the fragment into the premade pocket. Numbers (#) 1–5 indicate the positions of the mouse mammary glands. LN = inguinal lymph node