Silicate fiber-based 3D cell culture system for anticancer drug screening

• Published in: Anticancer research 2013-12, Vol.33 (12), p.5301-5309
• Main Authors: Yamaguchi, Yoshie, Deng, Dawei, Sato, Yoshinori, Hou, Yung-Te, Watanabe, Rie, Sasaki, Kohei, Kawabe, Masaaki, Hirano, Eiichi, Morinaga, Tetsuo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Base Sequence; Cell Culture Techniques - methods; Cell Line, Tumor; Cyclooxygenase 2 - metabolism; DNA Primers; Doxorubicin - pharmacology; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor - methods; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; Glycolysis; Humans; Mitomycin - pharmacology; NF-kappa B - physiology; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 - metabolism; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Silicates; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - metabolism
• ISSN: 0250-7005; 1791-7530

Three-dimensional (3D) in vitro cultures can recapitulate the physiological in vivo microenvironment. 3D Modeling techniques have been investigated and applied in anticancer drug screening. A silicate fiber scaffold was used for 3D cell cultures, and used to model the efficacy of anticancer drugs, such as mytomicin C and doxorubicin. A unique 3D structure was observed in 13 human tumor cell lines on scaffold, and these cells exhibited higher drug resistance than cells in two-dimensional (2D) cultures. Furthermore, the production of lactate and expression of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)-regulated genes B cell lymphoma-2 (BCL2), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were higher in 3D cultures than in 2D cultures. These findings suggest that a 3D model using a silicate fiber scaffold can mimic features of cancer, and is also a suitable model for the evaluation of anticancer drugs in vitro.