title: Chemotherapy screening assay using 3-dimensional cell culture.
abstract: A new alginate culture method (ACM) was used to test the effects of vincristine and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on the commonly used human colon carcinoma cell line HT-29. Colorimetric analysis of viability following treatment with physiologically tolerated levels of vincristine showed significant reduction of the surviving cell population. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of sections of treated organoid growths corroborated the colorimetric analyses. The ACM is inexpensive, rapid and extremely versatile. Many alginate beads containing "mini-tissue" growths of many cell lines can be used simultaneously to evaluate numerous chemotherapeutic agents in an "in vivo-like" environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Boston University School of Medicine, MA 02118.
authors.forename: H Z
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Kupchik
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: McCaffrey
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / Q000379:methods*; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects*; D014750:Vincristine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D014750:Vincristine; D005472:Fluorouracil