Incorporation of multicellular spheroids into 3-D polymeric scaffolds provides an improved tumor model for screening anticancer drugs.
Development of cancer therapeutics requires a thorough evaluation of drug efficacy in vitro before animal testing and subsequent clinical trials. Three-dimensional (3-D) in vitro models have therefore been investigated for drug screening. In this study, we have developed a novel in vitro model in which multicellular aggregates, or spheroids, were incorporated into 3-D porous scaffolds. Drug resistance assays showed that spheroid-seeded scaffolds have much higher drug resistance than monolayer cultures, spheroids on flat substrates, or scaffolds seeded with dispersed cells. Furthermore, spheroid-seeded scaffolds demonstrated higher lactate production leading to acidosis, and higher expression of angiogenic factors. These data suggest that the spheroid-seeded 3-D scaffolds might serve as a useful in vitro system for screening cancer therapeutics.
Ho
Won Jin
WJ
Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Pham
Edward A
EA
Kim
Jun W
JW
Ng
Christopher W
CW
Kim
Jae H
JH
Kamei
Daniel T
DT
Wu
Benjamin M
BM
D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018874:Spheroids, Cellular / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*