A 3D Culture Method of Spheroids of Embryonic and Liver Zebrafish Cell Lines

Summary

Here, we present an effective, easy, and fast 3D culture protocol for the formation of spheroids of two zebrafish (Danio rerio) cell lines: ZEM2S (embryo) and ZFL (normal hepatocyte).

Abstract

Fish cell lines are promising in vitro models for ecotoxicity assessment; however, conventional monolayer culture systems (2D culture) have well-known limitations (e.g., culture longevity and maintenance of some in vivo cellular functions). Thus, 3D cultures, such as spheroids, have been proposed, since these models can reproduce tissue-like structures, better recapturing the in vivo conditions. This article describes an effective, easy, and fast 3D culture protocol for the formation of spheroids with two zebrafish (Danio rerio) cell lines: ZEM2S (embryo) and ZFL (normal hepatocyte). The protocol consists of plating the cells in a round-bottom, ultra-low attachment, 96-well plate. After 5 days under orbital shaking (70 rpm), a single spheroid per well is formed. The formed spheroids present stable size and shape, and this method avoids the formation of multiple spheroids in a well; thus, it is not necessary to handpick spheroids of similar sizes. The ease, speed, and reproducibility of this spheroid method make it useful for high-throughput in vitro tests.

Introduction

Spheroids are small spheres of cells formed when cells are cultured in close cell-to-cell contact in 3D culture. The capacity of spheroids to mimic the in vivo tissue environment has already been studied in a variety of cell lines and primary cells^1,2. However, although spheroids are well developed for mammalian toxicity studies, the development of spheroids for toxicity studies with non-mammalian vertebrates (e.g., fish) is still in progress³. For fish cell lines, spheroids have been developed by a variety of different methods, such as orbital shaking (OS) using different type....

Protocol

The key steps to generate 3D spheroids of ZFL and ZEM2S cell lines in a round-bottom 96-well plate are presented in Figure 1.

NOTE: See the Table of Materials for details related to all materials used in this protocol and Table 1 for solutions and culture media used in this protocol.

1. Cell culture medium and monolayer cultures

1. Grow both cell lines (ZFL, ZEM2S) as monolayers in an incubator at 28 °C without CO₂, and subculture them at a subcultivation ratio of 1:3 when they reach ~80% confluence.
   ....

Results

Single spheroids per well with a stable size and shape are formed by this method. Figure 2 illustrates the formation process of single spheroids of ZFL and ZEM2S cells in a well of a ULA-plate under orbital shaking (70 rpm). The ZFL and ZEM2S cell lines have different behaviors in 3D culture. The ZEM2S cell line presents features that confer the ability to readily form a spheroidal shape since the first day of the orbital shaking (Figure 2E), while the ZFL cell .......

Discussion

This is a simple, easy, and fast method for generating spheroids of zebrafish liver and embryo cell lines. This method was developed by this group based on modifications of existing 3D spheroid methods to overcome problems reported in scientific studies related to spheroid formation, as well as uncertainties in data accuracy from 3D spheroid assays. For instance, the problems reported lie in difficulties of handling, the time-consuming nature of generating spheroids, the necessity of selecting spheroids of a similar size.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
96-well Clear Round Bottom Ultra-Low Attachment Microplate, Individually Wrapped, with Lid, Sterile	Corning	7007
DMEM, powder, high glucose, pyruvate	Gibco	12800-017
Ham's F-12 Nutrient Mix, powder	Gibco	21700026
HEPES (1M)	Gibco	15630080
Image Processing and analysis in Java (ImageJ) 1.52p software	National Institutes of Health, USA		Available at: https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/index.html
Leibovitz's L-15 Medium, powder	Gibco	41300021
Orbital shaker	Warmnest	KLD-350-BI	22 mm rotation diameter
Dulbeccos PBS (10x) with calcium and magnesium	Invitrogen	14080055
Penicillin-Streptomycin (10,000 U/mL)	Gibco	15140122
RPMI 1640 Medium	Gibco	31800-014
FBS - Fetal Bovine Serum, qualified, USDA-approved regions	Gibco	12657-029
Sodium bicarbonate, powder,  bioreagent for molecular biology	Sigma-Aldrich	S5761
Trypan blue stain (0,4%)	Gibco	15250-061
Trypsin-EDTA (0.5%), no phenol red	Gibco	15400054
ZEM2S cell line	ATCC	CRL-2147	This cell line was kindly donated by Professor Dr. Michael J. Carvan (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA)
ZFL cell line	BCRJ	256