Name: identification, histological characterization, and dissection of mouse prostate lobes for in vitro 3d spheroid culture models
Uploaded: 2018-09-18T14:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Identification, Histological Characterization, and Dissection of Mouse Prostate Lobes for In Vitro 3D Spheroid Culture Models at JoVE.com

This work was supported by the grant from National Cancer Institute, R01CA161018 to LK.

All mouse experiments described here were performed according to the guidelines outlined in the institutional IACUC-approved protocols at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
1. The Urogenital System (UGS) Dissection
Note: The schematic is presented in Figure 1.
<ol>
	<li>Euthanize a 3-month-old male C57BL/6 mouse using the CO2 inhalational euthanasia method or another approved technique. 
	Note: Mice between the ages of 3...

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This paper outlines the methods for dissection of the mouse prostate and identification of individual lobes. Also described is the protocol for culturing mouse prostate cells in a 3D culture for in vitro analysis.
A critical step in the dissection protocol is (1) harvesting the entire UGS out of the mouse and separating the individual organs under a dissection microscope. The prostate tissue is very small and surrounded by the rest of the UGS; thus, it is practically impossible to har...

The scientific community has been attempting to elucidate the complex mechanism of human cancer development for decades. Whereas identification of potential key players and drug targets begins with patient cells and tissue studies, the translational application of such findings often requires the use of pre-clinical animal models. The use of genetically engineered mice models (GEMMs) to model human cancers has steadily risen since the establishment of the Mouse Models of Human Cancers Consortium (NCI-MMHCC), a committee which sought to describe and unify characteristics of mouse cancer models for scientists worldwide1,2. Mouse models fulfill the need for mechanistic studies in pre-clinical studies of most types of cancer, for understanding the development, progression, response to treatments, and acquired resistance3. 
Prostate cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in men, affecting over 160,000 men every year4. Aggressive forms of the disease claim tens of thousands of lives every year. However, the mechanism of disease progression is still poorly understood. This results in a serious lack of effective treatment options for advanced and metastatic prostate cancer, as evidenced by the high mortality rate in advanced prostate cancer patients4. Hence, there is a growing need for pre-clinical models to study prostate cancer. However, owing to the inherent differences between the mouse and human prostate, modeling of prostate cancer in GEMMs did not gain popularity until the Bar Harbor Classification system was introduced in 2004, which outlined histopathological changes in the mouse prostate upon genetic manipulation, identification of neoplastic changes, and their relation to stages of cancer progression in humans5. One important characteristic of the mouse prostate that must be taken into consideration while studying any prostate GEMM model is the presence of four distinct pairs of lobes: anterior, lateral, ventral and dorsal. The lobes present significant differences in the histopathology and gene expression pattern6. Probasin protein expression pattern can vary between lobes in young post-puberty mice7, which must be considered since Cre-based GEMM models are mostly designed using a probasin-based promotor called Pb-Cre47. The resulting spatial and temporal differences in Cre expression often lead to differences in tumor initiation and progression timelines as well as differences in neoplastic changes between the lobes. Hence, it is important to account for such differences while studying tumor development in the prostate GEMMs, and the individual lobes may need to be evaluated separately to achieve reproducible results. The first part of this article describes the proper methods to dissect a mouse prostate, identify and separate each lobe, and recognize the histological differences between the lobes.
While the analysis of tumor growth and histopathology can provide valuable insights into the tumor development, they do not provide much information about molecular mechanisms. To study the mechanism of tumor development and progression, it is often useful to analyze the tumor cells in vitro. Several methods have been suggested over the years that involve cultures of these cells, including suspension cultures, 3D cultures8 and recently, regular 2D cultures9. Whereas most of these methods result in good cell survival and proliferation rates, the 3D cultures provide an environment that is closest to physiological conditions. In 3D or spheroid cultures grown in a basement membrane extracellular matrix (ECM), the fully differentiated luminal cells usually have very low survival rate; however, the basal and intermediate cells (mostly stem cells) are able to propagate and produce cell clusters called spheroids10. This makes it suitable for a cancer study since epithelial cancers are believed to originate from stem cells (popularly known as cancer stem cells)11. The second part of this protocol describes a method for culturing the mouse prostate cells in 3D cultures. The resulting spheres can be used for several types of downstream analyses, including the study of organoid morphology and behavior by live cell imaging, immunofluorescence staining for different proteins, and the study of responses to chemotherapeutic treatments.
Overall, the goal of this protocol is to outline optimal methods for using mouse models in prostate cancer by describing the anatomy and dissection techniques of the mouse prostate and the processing of the tissue for spheroid cultures and in vitro analysis.

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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Mouse surgical instruments (Mouse Dissecting kit)</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td style="width:196px;">MOUSEKIT</td>
			<td style="width:620px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Dissection microscope</td>
			<td style="width:260px;"></td>
			<td style="width:196px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">RPMI medium</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Thermofisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:196px;">11875093</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Dissection medium (DMEM + 10%FBS)</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Thermofisher Scientific</td>
			<td>11965-084</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Fetal Bovine Serum</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Thermofisher Scientific</td>
			<td>10438018</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="24">
			<td height="24" style="height:24px;width:415px;">PBS (Phosphate buffered saline)</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Thermofisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:196px;">10010031</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Collagenase</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Thermofisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:196px;">17018029</td>
			<td>Make 10x stock (10mg/ml) in RPMI, filter sterilize, aliquot and store at -20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Trypsin-EDTA (0.05%)</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Thermofisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:196px;">25300054</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">DNase I</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>10104159001&#160;ROCHE</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Syringes and Needles</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:196px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Fisherbran&#160;Sterile Cell Strainers, 40&#956;m</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>22-363-547</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">PrEGM BulletKit&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Lonza</td>
			<td>CC-3166</td>
			<td>Add all componenets, aliquot and store at -20 &#176;C.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Matrigel membrane matrix</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Thermofisher Scientific</td>
			<td>CB-40234</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:415px;">Dispase II powder</td>
			<td style="width:260px;">Thermofisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:196px;">17105041</td>
			<td>Make 10x stock (10mg/ml) in PrEGM, filter sterilize, aliquot and store at -20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

identification, histological characterization, and dissection of mouse prostate lobes for in vitro 3d spheroid culture models

Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) serve as effective pre-clinical models for investigating most types of human cancers, including prostate cancer (PCa). Understanding the anatomy and histology of the mouse prostate is important for the efficient use and proper characterization of such animal models. The mouse prostate has four distinct pairs of lobes, each with their own characteristics. This article demonstrates the proper method of dissection and identification of mouse prostate lobes for disease analysis. Post-dissection, the prostate cells can be further cultured in vitro for mechanistic understanding. Since mouse prostate primary cells tend to lose their normal characteristics when cultured in vitro, we outline here a method for isolating the cells and growing them as 3D spheroid cultures, which is effective for preserving the physiological characteristics of the cells. These 3D cultures can be used for analyzing cell morphology and behavior in near-physiological conditions, investigating altered levels and localizations of key proteins and pathways involved in the development and progression of a disease, and looking at responses to drug treatments.

The mouse prostate lobes can be identified and dissected using their locations with respect to the seminal vesicles and urethra. The mouse prostate is composed of 4 pairs of lobes located dorsally and ventrally to the seminal vesicles and urethra. Figure&#160;4a and 4b (top) show the dorsal and ventral views of the intact prostate, along with the seminal vesicles and urethra. The bottom panels (Figure&#160;4c and...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Identification, Histological Characterization, and Dissection of Mouse Prostate Lobes for In Vitro 3D Spheroid Culture Models at JoVE.com

Identification, Histological Characterization, and Dissection of Mouse Prostate Lobes for In Vitro 3D Spheroid Culture Models

Genetically engineered mice are useful models for investigating prostate cancer mechanisms. Here we present a protocol to identify and dissect prostate lobes from a mouse urogenital system, differentiate them based on histology, and isolate and culture the primary prostate cells in vitro as spheroids for downstream analyses.

Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) serve as effective pre-clinical models for investigating most types of human cancers, including prostate ...

This method can help in the start of genetically-engineered mouse models of prostate cancer and investigation of prostate cancer mechanism through in vivo and in vitro analysis. The main advantage of this technique is that it allows for a complete analysis of the prostate cancer mouse model, all the way from tissue dissection to cell isolation and culturing. After exposing the urogenital system, or UGS, firmly grasp the urinary bladder with medium blunt forceps, and lift the entire system up from the mouse abdomen.Slide a pair of scissors under the bladder and prostate all the way to the spine to make an incision through the spinal cord, and cut through any remaining connections to the abdominal cavity to allow removal of the entire UGS. Transfer the UGS to a six-centimeter Petri dish containing two to six milliliters of PBS under a dissecting microscope. And use a pair of fine forceps and microdissection scissors to carefully clear all of the fat from both the dorsal and ventral sides of the tissue system without snipping any prostate tissue.When all of the fat has been removed, pull the bladder with the forceps and excise the bladder at its base. Place the remaining tissue ventral side up and holding one duct ends with the forceps, follow the vessel to its base with scissors and excise the vessel at its base. Remove the same vessel on the other side and insert the forceps between the seminal vesicles and prostate to allow snipping of any adjoining connective tissue as necessary.Then trace the seminal vesicles to their base at the urethra and remove the vessels without puncturing them. When both vesicles have been removed, place the tissue dorsal side up so the dorsal lobes which resemble a butterfly's wings are visible. Holding each dorsal lobe with forceps, cut the tissue at its base with scissors to collect the dorsal lobes and turn the tissue to the ventral side.Collect the lateral lobes, which are small and usually wrap the urethra on the side and are wedged between the anterior, ventral, and dorsal lobes in the same manner. Collect the ventral lobes, which are larger than the lateral lobes and lie on the urethra ventrally. Then cut and discard the urethra to harvest the anterior lobes.To process the prostate tissue for 3D culture, transfer the lobes to a 10-centimeter dish containing two to three milliliters of DMEM, and use a scalpel to mince the prostate tubules as finely and evenly as possible. Transfer the tissue fragments to a sterile tissue culture hood and add the tissue solution to a new 15-milliliter tube. Bring the volume in the tube up to nine milliliters with fresh medium, and add one milliliter of TenX collagenase stock solution to the tissue mixture.After vortexing, incubate the tube with shaking for two hours at 37 degrees Celsius to degrade the extracellular matrix. At the end of the incubation, collect the tissue by centrifugation and re-suspend the pellet in two milliliter of warm 05%strips in EDTA. After five minutes of 37 degrees Celsius to facilitate cleaving of the cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix adhesions, use a P1000 pipehead with a wide board tip to triturate the tissue eight to 10 times to break up any clumps.Repeat the dissociation with a P200 pipehead tip. Then neutralize the trypsin with three milliliters of complete medium. Mix 500 units of DNASE1 into the tissue slurry and pass the solution five to 10 times through a five milliliter syringe equipped with an 18-gauge needle, followed by five times through a 20-gauge needle.When no more large tissue pieces are visible, filter the suspension through a 40-micrometer filter into a 50-milliliter conical tube, and collect the cells by centrifugation. For cell plating and culture, re-suspend the pellet in 0.5 milliliters of complete prostate epithelial cell growth medium, and allude the cells to a five times 10 to the fifth cells per milliliter of prostate epithelial cell growth medium concentration. Mix the cells with basement membrane extracellular matrix at a two to three volume of solution ratio, and plate the cell suspension in the appropriate experimental cell culture container.Then place the cells in a cell culture incubator for 30 minutes. When the extracellular matrix has solidified, cover the culture with pre-warmed complete prostate epithelial cell growth medium, taking care not to disturb the basement membrane extracellular matrix plug. Then return the cells to the cell culture incubator for five to 10 days, refreshing half of the medium every two to three days.To harvest spheres, aspirate the medium carefully without disturbing the basement membrane extracellular matrix gel plug, and add one milliliter of Disbase solution for 100 microliters of basement membrane extracellular matrix. Using a cell scraper, scrape along the bottom of the plate to lift the basement membrane extracellular gels from the bottom of the plate into the supernatant, and pipe up the entire solution one time to break up the plug into smaller pieces. Incubate the extra cellular matrix pieces in the cell culture incubator for one to two hours until the basement membrane extracellular matrix has completely dissolved.Then transfer the cell suspension to a 15-milliliter tube. And collect the cells by centrifugation for further downstream manipulation. The mouse prostate is composed of four pairs of lobes located dorsally and ventrally to the seminal vesicles and urethra.The prostate lobes are composed of multiple gland profiles, each comprised of a lumen, surrounded by secretory epithelial cells. The shapes of the lobes, the organization of the cells and the nature of the secretion vary from lobe to lobe. The isolated prostate cells begin growing into organoids as early as four days after basement membrane extracellular matrix culture.Over the next one to six days, most of the cells grow into solid spheres with a fraction of the spheres exhibiting a partial or full lumen. The spheroids also demonstrate a strong beta catenin staining at the cell-to-cell junctions that co-localize with F-actin staining. While attempting this procedure, it's very important to follow meticulously the microdissection steps.For example, isolate the prostate lobes while they're still attached to the urethra, so you know which lobe is which based on where they are with respect to the urethra. Following the dissection procedure, the isolated lobes can be used for downstream analysis, such as RMA sequencing, Western blotting or immunostaining. The primary 3D culture technique allows you to gain further insights into the prostate cancer mechanism, because you can monitor life with spheroids for morphology and behavior changes and identify any neoplastic changes in the same.In summary, this prostate dissection and culture methods can be incorporating to various downstream applications to provide valuable information for investigating the mechanism of prostate cancer using genetically engineered mouse models.

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Research

JoVE Journal

Cancer Research

A Rapid Filter Insert-based 3D Culture System for Primary Prostate Cell Differentiation

Conditionally reprogrammed cells (CRCs) provide a sustainable method for primary cell culture and the ability to develop extensive &#34;living biobanks&#34; of patient derived cell lines. For many types of epithelial cells, various three dimensional (3D) culture approaches have been described that support an improved differentiated state. While CRCs retain their lineage commitment to the tissue from which they are isolated, they fail to express many of the differentiation markers associated with the tissue of origin when grown under normal two dimensional (2D) culture conditions. To enhance the application of patient-derived CRCs for prostate cancer research, a 3D culture format has been defined that enables a rapid (2 weeks total) luminal cell differentiation in both normal and tumor-derived prostate epithelial cells. Herein, a filter insert-based format is described for the culturing and differentiation of both normal and malignant prostate CRCs. A detailed description of the procedures required for cell collection and processing for immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent staining are provided. Collectively the 3D culture format described, combined with the primary CRC lines, provides an important medium- to high- throughput model system for biospecimen-based prostate research.

Here, we present a method for the establishment of a rapid in vitro system that supports the three dimensional culturing and subsequent luminal differentiation of primary prostate epithelial cells.

Conditionally reprogrammed cells (CRCs) provide a sustainable method for primary cell culture and the ability to develop extensive &#34;living ...

Evaporation-reducing Culture Condition Increases the Reproducibility of Multicellular Spheroid Formation in Microtiter Plates

Tumor models that closely imitate in vivo conditions are becoming increasingly popular in drug discovery and development for the screening of potential anti-cancer drugs. Multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSes) effectively mimic the physiological conditions of solid tumors, making them excellent in vitro models for lead optimization and target validation. Out of the various techniques available for MCTS culture, the liquid-overlay method on agarose is one of the most inexpensive methods for MCTS generation. However, the reliable transfer of MCTS cultures using liquid-overlay for high-throughput screening may be compromised by a number of limitations, including the coating of microtiter plates (MPs) with agarose and the irreproducibility of uniform MCTS formation across wells. MPs are significantly prone to edge effects that result from excessive evaporation of medium from the exterior of the plate, preventing the use of the entire plate for drug tests. This manuscript provides detailed technical improvements to the liquid-overlay technique to increase the scalability and reproducibility of uniform MCTS formation. Additionally, details on a simple, semi-automatic, and universally applicable software tool for the evaluation of MCTS features after drug treatment is presented.

The uneven loss of medium from microtiter plates affects the reproducibility of uniform multicellular tumor spheroid formation. Improving culture conditions to reduce significant medium loss will improve the reproducibility of spheroid formation and the results of spheroid-based assays using the liquid-overlay technique.

Tumor models that closely imitate in vivo conditions are becoming increasingly popular in drug discovery and development for the screening of potential ...

Therapy Testing in a Spheroid-based 3D Cell Culture Model for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Current treatment options for advanced and recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) enclose radiation and chemo-radiation approaches with or without surgery. While platinum-based chemotherapy regimens currently represent the gold standard in terms of efficacy and are given in the vast majority of cases, new chemotherapy regimens, namely immunotherapy are emerging. However, the response rates and therapy resistance mechanisms for either chemo regimen are hard to predict and remain insufficiently understood. Broad variations of chemo and radiation resistance mechanisms are known to date. This study describes the development of a standardized, high-throughput in vitro assay to assess HNSCC cell line&#39;s response to various therapy regimens, and hopefully on primary cells from individual patients as a future tool for personalized tumor therapy. The assay is designed to being integrated into the quality-controlled standard algorithm for HNSCC patients at our tertiary care center; however, this will be subject of future studies. Technical feasibility looks promising for primary cells from tumor biopsies from actual patients. Specimens are then transferred into the laboratory. Biopsies are mechanically separated followed by enzymatic digestion. Cells are then cultured in ultra-low adhesion cell culture vials that promote the reproducible, standardized and spontaneous formation of three-dimensional, spheroid-shaped cell conglomerates. Spheroids are then ready to be exposed to chemo-radiation protocols and immunotherapy protocols as needed. The final cell viability and spheroid size are indicators of therapy susceptibility and therefore could be drawn into consideration in future to assess the patients&#39; likely therapy response. This model could be a valuable, cost-efficient tool towards personalized therapy for head and neck cancer.

We describe the evolution of a spheroid-based, three-dimensional in vitro model that enables us to test the current standard of experimental therapy regimens for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma on cell lines, aiming at evaluating therapy susceptibility and resistance on primary cells from human specimens in the future.

Current treatment options for advanced and recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) enclose radiation and chemo-radiation approaches with ...

A 3D Organotypic Melanoma Spheroid Skin Model

Malignant transformation of melanocytes, the pigment cells of human skin, causes formation of melanoma, a highly aggressive cancer with increased metastatic potential. Recently, mono-chemotherapies continue to improve by melanoma specific combination therapies with targeted kinase inhibitors. Still, metastatic melanoma remains a life-threatening disease because tumors exhibit primary resistance or develop resistance to novel therapies, thereby regaining tumorigenic capacity. In order to improve the therapeutic success of malignant melanoma, the determination of molecular mechanisms conferring resistance against conventional treatment approaches is necessary; however, it requires innovative cellular in vitro models. Here, we introduce an in vitro three-dimensional (3D) organotypic melanoma spheroid model that can portray the in vivo architecture of malignant melanoma and may warrant new insights into intra-tumoral as well as tumor-host interactions. The model incorporates defined numbers of mature and differentiated melanoma spheroids in a 3D human full skin reconstruction model consisting of primary skin cells. The cellular composition and differentiation status of the embedded melanoma spheroids is similar to the one of cutaneous melanoma metastasis in vivo. Using this organotypic melanoma spheroid model as a drug screening platform may support the identification of responders to selected combination therapies, while sparing the unnecessary treatment burden for non-responders, thereby increasing the benefit of therapeutic interventions.

Here, we present a protocol to generate a 3D organotypic melanoma spheroid skin model that recapitulates both the architecture and multicellular complexity of an organ/tumor in vivo but at the same time accommodates systematic experimental intervention.

Malignant transformation of melanocytes, the pigment cells of human skin, causes formation of melanoma, a highly aggressive cancer with increased ...

Assessing Cell Viability and Death in 3D Spheroid Cultures of Cancer Cells

Three-dimensional spheroids of cancer cells are important tools for both cancer drug screens and for gaining mechanistic insight into cancer cell biology. The power of this preparation lies in its ability to mimic many aspects of the in vivo conditions of tumors while being fast, cheap, and versatile enough to allow relatively high-throughput screening. The spheroid culture conditions can recapitulate the physico-chemical gradients in a tumor, including the increasing extracellular acidity, increased lactate, and decreasing glucose and oxygen availability, from the spheroid periphery to its core. Also, the mechanical properties and cell-cell interactions of in vivo tumors are in part mimicked by this model. The specific properties and consequently the optimal growth conditions, of 3D spheroids, differ widely between different types of cancer cells. Furthermore, the assessment of cell viability and death in 3D spheroids requires methods that differ in part from those employed for 2D cultures. Here we describe several protocols for preparing 3D spheroids of cancer cells, and for using such cultures to assess cell viability and death in the context of evaluating the efficacy of anticancer drugs.

Here, we present several simple methods for evaluating viability and death in 3D cancer cell spheroids, which mimic the physico-chemical gradients of in vivo tumors much better than the 2D culture. The spheroid model, therefore, allows evaluation of the cancer drug efficacy with improved translation to in vivo conditions.

Three-dimensional spheroids of cancer cells are important tools for both cancer drug screens and for gaining mechanistic insight into cancer cell biology. ...

A 3D Spheroid Model as a More Physiological System for Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Differentiation and Invasion In Vitro Studies

Defining the ideal model for an in vitro study is essential, mainly if studying physiological processes such as differentiation of cells. In the tumor stroma, host fibroblasts are stimulated by cancer cells to differentiate. Thus, they acquire a phenotype that contributes to the tumor microenvironment and supports tumor progression. By using the spheroid model, we have set up such a 3D in vitro model system, in which we analyzed the role of laminin-332 and its receptor integrin &#945;3&#946;1 in this differentiation process. This spheroid model system not only reproduces the tumor microenvironment conditions in a more accurate way, but also is a very versatile model since it allows different downstream studies, such as immunofluorescent staining of both intra- and extracellular markers, as well as deposited extracellular matrix proteins. Moreover, transcriptional analyses by qPCR, flow cytometry and cellular invasion can be studied with this model. Here, we describe a protocol of a spheroid model to assess the role of CAFs&#39; integrin &#945;3&#946;1 and its ectopically deposited ligand, laminin-332, in differentiation and in supporting the invasion of pancreatic cancer cells.

The goal of this protocol is to establish a 3D in vitro model to study the differentiation of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in a tumor bulk-like environment, which can be addressed in different analysis systems, such as immunofluorescence, transcriptional analysis and life cell imaging.

Defining the ideal model for an in vitro study is essential, mainly if studying physiological processes such as differentiation of cells. In the tumor ...

Evaluating the Differentiation Capacity of Mouse Prostate Epithelial Cells Using Organoid Culture

The prostate epithelium is comprised predominantly of basal and luminal cells. In vivo lineage tracing has been utilized to define the differentiation capacity of mouse prostate basal and luminal cells during development, tissue-regeneration and transformation. However, evaluating cell-intrinsic and extrinsic regulators of prostate epithelial differentiation capacity using a lineage tracing approach often requires extensive breeding and can be cost-prohibitive. In the prostate organoid assay, basal and luminal cells generate prostatic epithelium ex vivo. Importantly, primary epithelial cells can be isolated from mice of any genetic background or mice treated with any number of small molecules prior to, or after, plating into three-dimensional (3D) culture. Sufficient material for evaluation of differentiation capacity is generated after 7-10 days. Collection of basal-derived and luminal-derived organoids for (1) protein analysis by Western blot and (2) immunohistochemical analysis of intact organoids by whole-mount confocal microscopy enables researchers to evaluate the ex vivo differentiation capacity of prostate epithelial cells. When used in combination, these two approaches provide complementary information about the differentiation capacity of prostate basal and luminal cells in response to genetic or pharmacological manipulation.

Mouse prostate organoids represent a promising context to evaluate mechanisms that regulate differentiation. This paper describes an improved approach to establish prostate organoids, and introduces methods to (1) collect protein lysate from organoids, and (2) fix and stain organoids for whole-mount confocal microscopy.

The prostate epithelium is comprised predominantly of basal and luminal cells. In vivo lineage tracing has been utilized to define the differentiation ...

Characterization of the Effects of Migrastatic Inhibitors on 3D Tumor Spheroid Invasion by High-resolution Confocal Microscopy

Drug discovery and development in cancer research is increasingly being based on drug screens in a 3D format. Novel inhibitors targeting the migratory and invasive potential of cancer cells, and consequently the metastatic spread of disease, are being discovered and considered as complementary treatments in highly invasive cancers such as gliomas. Thus, generating data enabling the detailed analyses of cells in a 3D environment following the addition of a drug is required. The methodology described here, combining spheroid invasion assays with high-resolution image capture and data analysis by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), enabled detailed characterization of the effects of the potential anti-migratory inhibitor MI-192 on glioma cells. Spheroids were generated from cell lines for invasion assays in low adherent 96-well plates and then prepared for CLSM analysis. The described workflow was preferred over other commonly used spheroid-generating techniques due to both ease and reproducibility. This, combined with the enhanced image resolution attained by confocal microscopy compared to conventional wide-field approaches, allowed the identification and analysis of distinct morphological changes in migratory cells in a 3D environment following treatment with the migrastatic drug MI-192.

The effects of migrastatic inhibitors on glioma cancer cell migration in three-dimensional (3D) invasion assays using a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor are characterized by high-resolution confocal microscopy.

Drug discovery and development in cancer research is increasingly being based on drug screens in a 3D format. Novel inhibitors targeting the migratory and ...

A Novel Stromal Fibroblast-Modulated 3D Tumor Spheroid Model for Studying Tumor-Stroma Interaction and Drug Discovery

Tumor-stroma interactions play an important role in cancer progression. Three-dimensional (3D) tumor spheroid models are the most widely used in vitro model in the study of cancer stem/initiating cells, preclinical cancer research, and drug screening. The 3D spheroid models are superior to conventional tumor cell culture and reproduce some important characters of real solid tumors. However, conventional 3D tumor spheroids are made up exclusively of tumor cells. They lack the participation of tumor stromal cells and have insufficient extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, thus only partially mimicking the in vivo conditions of tumor tissues. We established a new multicellular 3D spheroid model composed of tumor cells and stromal fibroblasts that better mimics the in vivo heterogeneous tumor microenvironment and its native desmoplasia. The formation of spheroids is strictly regulated by the tumor stromal fibroblasts and is determined by the activity of certain crucial intracellular signaling pathways (e.g., Notch signaling) in stromal fibroblasts. In this article, we present the techniques for coculture of tumor cells-stromal fibroblasts, time-lapse imaging to visualize cell-cell interactions, and confocal microscopy to display the 3D architectural features of the spheroids. We also show two examples of the practical application of this 3D spheroid model. This novel multicellular 3D spheroid model offers a useful platform for studying tumor-stroma interaction, elucidating how stromal fibroblasts regulate cancer stem/initiating cells, which determine tumor progression and aggressiveness, and exploring involvement of stromal reaction in cancer drug sensitivity and resistance. This platform can also be a pertinent in vitro model for drug discovery.

A novel three-dimensional spheroid model based on the heterotypic interaction of tumor cells and stromal fibroblasts is established. Here, we present coculture of tumor cells and stromal fibroblasts, time-lapse imaging, and confocal microscopy to visualize the formation of spheroids. This three-dimensional model offers a pertinent platform to study tumor-stroma interactions and test cancer therapeutics.

Tumor-stroma interactions play an important role in cancer progression. Three-dimensional (3D) tumor spheroid models are the most widely used in vitro ...

A 3D Spheroid Model for Glioblastoma

Two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures do not mimic in vivo tumor growth satisfactorily. Therefore, three-dimensional (3D) culture spheroid models were developed. These models may be particularly important in the field of neuro-oncology. Indeed, brain tumors have the tendency to invade the healthy brain environment. We describe herein an ideal 3D glioblastoma spheroid-based assay that we developed to study tumor invasion. We provide all technical details and analytical tools to successfully perform this assay.

Here, we describe an easy-to-use invasion assay for glioblastoma. This assay is suitable for glioblastoma stem-like cells. A Fiji macro for easy quantification of invasion, migration, and proliferation is also described.

Two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures do not mimic in vivo tumor growth satisfactorily. Therefore, three-dimensional (3D) culture spheroid models were ...