Cradle for cancer

Biologists have improved the 3D environment for growing tumors

Anna Obraztsova, N+1

Scientists from Washington State University has developed a three-dimensional environment for the cultivation of cancer cells. It allows them to grow not on a plane, but in the thickness of a matrix that simulates conditions in the human body, which should improve drug testing. The work was published in the journal Science Advances.

Cancer cells in human tissues are surrounded by an extracellular matrix – a substance with a complex composition, which includes various glycoproteins and proteoglycans secreted by cells. The composition and structure of the extracellular matrix significantly affect the growth and functioning of cells. Artificial scaffolds (the so-called porous three-dimensional media for cell growth) cancer cells already exist for growing, but they are difficult to work with, and they lack many substances present in the natural extracellular matrix.

To create a three–dimensional environment for growing cells with a composition close to tissue, scientists took mouse breast tissue samples and decellularized them - removed all cells, leaving only the extracellular matrix. Using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry, they found that all the main proteins characteristic of the extracellular matrix were preserved. Then the matrix was split by enzymes in an acidic medium, so that a liquid solution was formed that could be poured into the mold. In it, the solution solidifies and turns into a gel, the size of the pores in which depends on the concentration of the initial solution.

By measuring the diameter of the pores using electron microscopy, the authors of the work selected a concentration at which the scaffold is suitable for cell culture. It was populated with epithelial and breast cancer cells, and both lines took root and actively divided. The authors of the work consider this to be a confirmation that their development imitates tissue conditions well.

The scientists also compared the effect of two anticancer drugs, tamoxifen and paclitaxel, on cells grown on 2D and 3D media. In both cases, the growth of cancer cells was suppressed, but the effect was weaker on the three-dimensional scaffold. The new development will allow cancer cells to be grown in conditions as close to natural as possible and get more realistic results when testing drugs. 

Another promising development for biological research is "organs-on-a-chip", which are cell cultures connected by channels through which fluid flows. Already created models of the heart, blood vessels and the female reproductive system allowed not only to study the details of their physiology, but also to investigate premature aging.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  20.09.2017