Human breast cancer histoid: an in vitro 3-dimensional co-culture model that mimics breast cancer tissue.

Abstract

Progress in our understanding of heterotypic cellular interaction in the tumor microenvironment, which is recognized to play major roles in cancer progression, has been hampered due to unavailability of an appropriate in vitro co-culture model. The aim of this study was to generate an in vitro 3-dimensional human breast cancer model, which consists of cancer cells and fibroblasts. Breast cancer cells (UACC-893) and fibroblasts at various densities were co-cultured in a rotating suspension culture system to establish co-culture parameters. Subsequently, UACC-893, BT.20, or MDA.MB.453 were co-cultured with fibroblasts for 9 days. Co-cultures resulted in the generation of breast cancer histoid (BCH) with cancer cells showing the invasion of fibroblast spheroids, which were visualized by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of sections (4 µm thick) of BCH. A reproducible quantitative expression of C-erbB.2 was detected in UACC-893 cancer cells in BCH sections by IHC staining and the Automated Cellular Imaging System. BCH sections also consistently exhibited qualitative expression of pancytokeratins, p53, Ki-67, or E-cadherin in cancer cells and that of vimentin or GSTPi in fibroblasts, fibronectin in the basement membrane and collagen IV in the extracellular matrix. The expression of the protein analytes and cellular architecture of BCH were markedly similar to those of breast cancer tissue.

• Authors: Pavinder Kaur, Brenda Ward, Baisakhi Saha, Lillian Young, Susan Groshen, Geza Techy, Yani Lu, Roscoe Atkinson, Clive R Taylor, Marylou Ingram, S Ashraf Imam
• Journal: The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society (J Histochem Cytochem) Vol. 59 Issue 12 Pg. 1087-100 (Dec 2011) ISSN: 1551-5044 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22034518 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Receptor, ErbB-2

Topics

• Bioreactors
• Breast Neoplasms (metabolism, pathology)
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Cell Proliferation
• Coculture Techniques
• Female
• Fibroblasts (cytology)
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Neoplasm Invasiveness
• Receptor, ErbB-2 (metabolism)
• Tumor Microenvironment