Through this excerpt from Taconic Biosciences' Webinar, "Advanced Toolkit For Syngeneic Tumor Modeling in Mice," Dr. Philip Dubé considers the role of genetic background when identifying the proper syngeneic model as well as the importance of validating substrain and specific cell line.
Syngeneic models depend on the implanted tumor cell not being rejected by the immune system; it is crucial that cell lines are genetically matched to the host. The most critical aspect is that the tumor and the animal must be matched at the major and minor histocompatibility loci.
Tumor cell lines have been derived from a variety of inbred strains, see our "Featured Models" for the most common models.