Role of Co-Culture with Fibroblasts and Dynamic Culture Systems in 3-Dimensional MCF-7 Tumor Model Maturation

Abstract

In vitro tumor models that are 3-dimensional (3D) have emerged as a significant area in the field of cancer research over the past several years. In order for breast cancer cell lines to grow and develop, it is important to select a scaffold, determine a strategy for seeding cells into the scaffold, then cultivate the cells under a variety of conditions. Therefore, we cultivated MCF-7 cells and fibroblasts on a gelatin-alginate scaffold alone or in co-culture under static or dynamic culture conditions in order to produce a 3D tumor model. MCF-7 and fibroblast were seeded into Gellatin-Alginate by Centrifugation and Incubation. After that, the cell proliferation was examined by MTT assay and the cell number determination in the scaffold. The morphology of MCF-7 was observed by H&E staining and SEM.

The results showed that the co-culture of MCF-7 cells and fibroblasts in the scaffold exhibited an increase in cell mass size. Their mass morphologies feature a significant number of MCF-7 cells with a round structure that persists for an extended period of time. Perfusion bioreactors also demonstrate an increase in the size of cell mass (3 times higher than static culture). As a result, the long-term stability of the structure offers the possibility of cancer biology research and drug testing, especially the sustained release or actions experiements.

HIGHLIGHTS

This research focuses on aspects of the tissue engineering concept that support the proliferation and development of specific structures within the mass. By experimenting, we were able;

• to develop co-culture with MCF-7 breast cancer cells and fibroblasts in a bioreactor system
• to form the superior cell mass up to 500 mm
• to preserve the cell mass structure for a long duration (28 days)
• to have a particularly stable mass structure, with a large number of live cells

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT