Innovative approaches to establish and characterize primary cultures: an ex vivo 3D system and the zebrafish model. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Patient-derived specimens are an invaluable resource to investigate tumor biology. However, in vivo studies on primary cultures are often limited by the small amount of material available, while conventional in vitro systems might alter the features and behavior that characterize cancer cells. We present our data obtained on primary dedifferentiated liposarcoma cells cultured in a 3D scaffold-based system and injected into a zebrafish model. Primary cells were characterized in vitro for their morphological features, sensitivity to drugs and biomarker expression, and in vivo for their engraftment and invasiveness abilities. The 3D culture showed a higher enrichment in cancer cells than the standard monolayer culture and a better preservation of liposarcoma-associated markers. We also successfully grafted primary cells into zebrafish, showing their local migratory and invasive abilities. Our work provides proof of concept of the ability of 3D cultures to maintain the original phenotype of ex vivo cells, and highlights the potential of the zebrafish model to provide a versatile in vivo system for studies with limited biological material. Such models could be used in translational research studies for biomolecular analyses, drug screenings and tumor aggressiveness assays.

authors

  • Liverani, Chiara
  • La Manna, Federico
  • Groenewoud, Arwin
  • Mercatali, Laura
  • Van Der Pluijm, Gabri
  • Pieri, Federica
  • Cavaliere, Davide
  • De Vita, Alessandro
  • Spadazzi, Chiara
  • Miserocchi, Giacomo
  • Bongiovanni, Alberto
  • Recine, Federica
  • Riva, Nada
  • Amadori, Dino
  • Tasciotti, Ennio
  • Snaar-Jagalska, Ewa
  • Ibrahim, Toni

publication date

  • February 15, 2017

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC5312106

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85013627006

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1242/bio.022483

PubMed ID

  • 27895047

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 6

issue

  • 2