Abstract B65: Live-cell imaging of 3D/4D parallel co-cultures of breast carcinoma cells and breast fibroblasts in tissue architecture and microenvironment engineering (TAME) chambers

Interactions among breast carcinoma cells and other cells in the tumor microenvironment, e.g., stromal fibroblasts and immune cells, contribute to malignant progression. We have developed three dimensional (3D) co-culture models and live-cell imaging assays for the analysis of such interactions in real-time, focusing on interactions and associated signaling pathways that might be druggable. Bissell, Brugge and colleagues have elegantly shown that the 3D context of breast cells is essential for their development and neoplastic progression, and the genes down-regulated during acini development in 3D culture are prognostic for clinical outcome of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and ER-negative breast tumors. We as well as others have demonstrated that 3D cultures of tumor cells can better predict resistance to cytotoxic therapy than 2D monolayer cultures and can be used to identify targets and validate potential therapeutic agents. Nonetheless, in vitro models using only one cell type are at best only partially predictive of in vivo conditions and thus may not be optimal screening platforms for pre-clinical drug discovery. To this end, we have been developing complex 3D co-culture models. We have optimized models that recapitulate in 3D the architecture of the human breast during the transition from normal breast epithelium through pre-malignancy to malignancy and have named them MAME models for mammary architecture and microenvironment engineering models. We have used these mod...
Source: Molecular Cancer Research - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy: Poster Presentations - Proffered Abstracts Source Type: research