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Three-Dimensional Aggregated Spheroid Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using a 96-Pillar/Well Plate. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26164949. [PMID: 34443536 PMCID: PMC8399878 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26164949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Revised: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A common method of three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures is embedding single cells in Matrigel. Separated cells in Matrigel migrate or grow to form spheroids but lack cell-to-cell interaction, which causes difficulty or delay in forming mature spheroids. To address this issue, we proposed a 3D aggregated spheroid model (ASM) to create large single spheroids by aggregating cells in Matrigel attached to the surface of 96-pillar plates. Before gelling the Matrigel, we placed the pillar inserts into blank wells where gravity allowed the cells to gather at the curved end. In a drug screening assay, the ASM with Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines showed higher drug resistance compared to both a conventional spheroid model (CSM) and a two-dimensional (2D) cell culture model. With protein expression, cytokine activation, and penetration analysis, the ASM showed higher expression of cancer markers associated with proliferation (p-AKT, p-Erk), tight junction formation (Fibronectin, ZO-1, Occludin), and epithelial cell identity (E-cadherin) in HCC cells. Furthermore, cytokine factors were increased, which were associated with immune cell recruitment/activation (MIF-3α), extracellular matrix regulation (TIMP-2), cancer interaction (IL-8, TGF-β2), and angiogenesis regulation (VEGF-A). Compared to CSM, the ASM also showed limited drug penetration in doxorubicin, which appears in tissues in vivo. Thus, the proposed ASM better recapitulated the tumor microenvironment and can provide for more instructive data during in vitro drug screening assays of tumor cells and improved prediction of efficacious drugs in HCC patients.
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Underhill GH, Khetani SR. Emerging trends in modeling human liver disease in vitro. APL Bioeng 2019; 3:040902. [PMID: 31893256 PMCID: PMC6930139 DOI: 10.1063/1.5119090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The liver executes 500+ functions, such as protein synthesis, xenobiotic metabolism, bile production, and metabolism of carbohydrates/fats/proteins. Such functions can be severely degraded by drug-induced liver injury, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis B and viral infections, and hepatocellular carcinoma. These liver diseases, which represent a significant global health burden, are the subject of novel drug discovery by the pharmaceutical industry via the use of in vitro models of the human liver, given significant species-specific differences in disease profiles and drug outcomes. Isolated primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) are a physiologically relevant cell source to construct such models; however, these cells display a rapid decline in the phenotypic function within conventional 2-dimensional monocultures. To address such a limitation, several engineered platforms have been developed such as high-throughput cellular microarrays, micropatterned cocultures, self-assembled spheroids, bioprinted tissues, and perfusion devices; many of these platforms are being used to coculture PHHs with liver nonparenchymal cells to model complex cell cross talk in liver pathophysiology. In this perspective, we focus on the utility of representative platforms for mimicking key features of liver dysfunction in the context of chronic liver diseases and liver cancer. We further discuss pending issues that will need to be addressed in this field moving forward. Collectively, these in vitro liver disease models are being increasingly applied toward the development of new therapeutics that display an optimal balance of safety and efficacy, with a focus on expediting development, reducing high costs, and preventing harm to patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory H. Underhill
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Salman R. Khetani
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA
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Lee SY, Doh I, Lee DW. A High Throughput Apoptosis Assay using 3D Cultured Cells. Molecules 2019; 24:molecules24183362. [PMID: 31527418 PMCID: PMC6767243 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24183362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 09/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A high throughput apoptosis assay using 3D cultured cells was developed with a micropillar/microwell chip platform. Live cell apoptosis assays based on fluorescence detection have been useful in high content screening. To check the autofluorescence of drugs, controls (no caspase-3/7 reagent in the assay) for the drugs are necessary which require twice the test space. Thus, a high throughput capability and highly miniaturized format for reducing reagent usage are necessary in live cell apoptosis assays. Especially, the expensive caspase-3/7 reagent should be reduced in a high throughput screening system. To solve this issue, we developed a miniaturized apoptosis assay using micropillar/microwell chips for which we tested seventy drugs (six replicates) per chip and reduced the assay volume to 1 µL. This reduced assay volume can decrease the assay costs compared to the 10–40 µL assay volumes used in 384 well plates. In our experiments, among the seventy drugs, four drugs (Cediranib, Cabozatinib, Panobinostat, and Carfilzomib) induced cell death by apoptosis. Those results were confirmed with western blot assays and proved that the chip platform could be used to identify high potency apoptosis-inducing drugs in 3D cultured cells with alginate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sang-Yun Lee
- Department of Health sciences and Technology, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 06351, Korea.
- Medical & Bio Device (MBD), Suwon 16229, Korea.
| | - Il Doh
- Center for Medical Convergence Metrology, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon 34113, Korea.
| | - Dong Woo Lee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Konyang University, Daejon 35365, Korea.
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Cho JH, Kim JS, Kim ST, Hong JY, Park JO, Park YS, Nam DH, Lee DW, Lee J. Selective colony area method for heterogeneous patient-derived tumor cell lines in anti-cancer drug screening system. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0215080. [PMID: 30995234 PMCID: PMC6469764 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 03/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
We aimed to establish a fluorescence intensity-based colony area sweeping method by selecting the area of highest viability among patient-derived cancer cells (PDC) which has high tumor heterogeneity. Five gastric cancer cell lines and PDCs were screened with 24 small molecule compounds using a 3D micropillar/microwell chip. 100 tumor cells per well were immobilized in alginate, treated with the compounds, and then stained and scanned for viable cells. Dose response curves and IC50 values were obtained based on total or selected area intensity based on fluorescence. Unlike homogeneous cell lines, PDC comprised of debris and low-viability cells, which resulted in an inaccurate estimation of cell viability using total fluorescence intensity as determined by high IC50 values. However, the IC50 of these cells was lower and accurate when calculated based on the selected-colony-area method that eliminated the intensity offset associated with the heterogeneous nature of PDC. The selected-colony-area method was optimized to accurately predict drug response in micropillar environment using heterogeneous nature of PDCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jang Ho Cho
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Ju-Sun Kim
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Seung Tae Kim
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Jung Yong Hong
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Joon Oh Park
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Young Suk Park
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Do-Hyun Nam
- Department of Neurosurgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Dong Woo Lee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Konyang University, Daejeon, Korea
- * E-mail: (DWL); (JL)
| | - Jeeyun Lee
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
- * E-mail: (DWL); (JL)
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Lee SY, Doh I, Nam DH, Lee DW. 3D Cell-Based High-Content Screening (HCS) Using a Micropillar and Microwell Chip Platform. Anal Chem 2018; 90:8354-8361. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b05328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sang-Yun Lee
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology (SAIHST), Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea
- Institute for Refractory Cancer Research, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea
- Central R & D Center, Medical & Bio Device (MBD) Co., Ltd, Suwon, 16229, Republic of Korea
| | - Il Doh
- Center for Medical Metrology, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
| | - Do-Hyun Nam
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology (SAIHST), Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea
- Institute for Refractory Cancer Research, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea
- Department of Neurosurgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong Woo Lee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Konyang University, Daejeon, 35365, Republic of Korea
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Joshi P, Datar A, Yu KN, Kang SY, Lee MY. High-content imaging assays on a miniaturized 3D cell culture platform. Toxicol In Vitro 2018; 50:147-159. [PMID: 29501531 DOI: 10.1016/j.tiv.2018.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2017] [Revised: 02/19/2018] [Accepted: 02/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The majority of high-content imaging (HCI) assays have been performed on two-dimensional (2D) cell monolayers for its convenience and throughput. However, 2D-cultured cell models often do not represent the in vivo characteristics accurately and therefore reduce the predictability of drug toxicity/efficacy in vivo. Recently, three-dimensional (3D) cell-based HCI assays have been demonstrated to improve predictability, but its use is limited due to difficulty in maneuverability and low throughput in cell imaging. To alleviate these issues, we have developed miniaturized 3D cell culture on a micropillar/microwell chip and demonstrated high-throughput HCI assays for mechanistic toxicity. Briefly, Hep3B human hepatoma cell line was encapsulated in a mixture of alginate and fibrin gel on the micropillar chip, cultured in 3D, and exposed to six model compounds in the microwell chip for rapidly assessing mechanistic hepatotoxicity. Several toxicity parameters, including DNA damage, mitochondrial impairment, intracellular glutathione level, and cell membrane integrity were measured on the chip, and the IC50 values of the compounds at different readouts were determined to investigate the mechanism of toxicity. Overall, the Z' factors were between 0.6 and 0.8 for the HCI assays, and the coefficient of variation (CV) were below 20%. These results indicate high robustness and reproducibility of the HCI assays established on the miniaturized 3D cell culture chip. In addition, it was possible to determine the predominant mechanism of toxicity using the 3D HCI assays. Therefore, our miniaturized 3D cell culture coupled with HCI assays has great potential for high-throughput screening (HTS) of compounds and mechanistic toxicity profiling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pranav Joshi
- Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland State University, 455 Fenn Hall, 1960 East 24th Street, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, USA
| | - Akshata Datar
- Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland State University, 455 Fenn Hall, 1960 East 24th Street, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, USA
| | - Kyeong-Nam Yu
- Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland State University, 455 Fenn Hall, 1960 East 24th Street, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, USA
| | - Soo-Yeon Kang
- Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland State University, 455 Fenn Hall, 1960 East 24th Street, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, USA
| | - Moo-Yeal Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland State University, 455 Fenn Hall, 1960 East 24th Street, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, USA.
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Lee DW, Lee SY, Doh I, Ryu GH, Nam DH. High-Dose Compound Heat Map for 3D-Cultured Glioblastoma Multiforme Cells in a Micropillar and Microwell Chip Platform. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2017; 2017:7218707. [PMID: 29270434 PMCID: PMC5705865 DOI: 10.1155/2017/7218707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2017] [Revised: 06/09/2017] [Accepted: 06/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is recognized as the most common and lethal form of central nervous system cancer. To cure GBM patients, many target-specific chemotherapeutic agents have been developing. However, 2D monolayer cell-based toxicity and efficacy tests did not efficiently screen agents due to the pool reflection of in vivo microenvironments (cell-to-cell and cell-to-extracellular matrix interaction). In this study, we used a 3D cell-based, high-throughput screening method reflecting the microenvironments using a micropillar and microwell chip platform to draw a high-dose heat map of the cytotoxicity and efficacy of 70 compounds, with two DMSO controls. Moreover, the high-dose heat map model compared the responses of four 3D-cultured patient-derived GBM cells and astrocytes to high dosages of compounds with respect to efficacy and cytotoxicity, respectively, to discern the most efficacious drug for GBM. Among the 70 compounds tested, cediranib (a potent inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinases) exhibited the lowest cytotoxicity to astrocytes and high efficacy to GBM cells in a high-dose heat map model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Woo Lee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Konyang University, Daejeon 35365, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang-Yun Lee
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 06351, Republic of Korea
| | - Il Doh
- Center for Medical Metrology, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Gyu Ha Ryu
- Office of R&D Strategy & Planning, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Do-Hyun Nam
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 06351, Republic of Korea
- Department of Neurosurgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Republic of Korea
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Kim HK, Kim SY, Lee SJ, Kang M, Kim ST, Jang J, Rath O, Schueler J, Lee DW, Park WY, Kim SJ, Park SH, Lee J. BEZ235 (PIK3/mTOR inhibitor) Overcomes Pazopanib Resistance in Patient-Derived Refractory Soft Tissue Sarcoma Cells. Transl Oncol 2016; 9:197-202. [PMID: 27267837 PMCID: PMC4907899 DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2016.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2016] [Revised: 03/23/2016] [Accepted: 03/23/2016] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although pazopanib treatment has become the standard chemotherapy in salvage setting for metastatic sarcoma patients, most patients progress after pazopanib treatment in 4 to 6 months. After failure to pazopanib, patients have limited options for treatment. Therefore, subsequent therapy in patients who failed to pazopanib is urgently needed and the use of patient derived cells or patient derived tumors for accompanying testing with various pharmacological inhibitors could offer additional treatment options for these patients. METHODS: Patient derived tumor cells were collected from ascites at the time of progression to pazopanib and a 13-drug panel was tested for drug sensitivity. We confirmed the results using in vitro cell viability assay and immunoblot assay. We also performed the genomic profiling of PDX model. RESULTS: The growth of patient derived tumor cells was significantly reduced by exposure to 1.0 μM AZD2014 compared with control (control versus AZD2014, mean growth = 100.0% vs 16.04%, difference = 83.96%, 95% CI = 70.01% to 97.92%, P = .0435). Similarly, 1.0 μM BEZ235 profoundly inhibited tumor cell growth in vitro when compared to control (control versus BEZ235, mean growth = 100.0% vs 7.308%, difference = 92.69%, 95% CI = 78.87% to 106.5%, P < .0001). Despite the presence of CDK4 amplification in the patient-derived tumor cells, LEE011 did not considerably inhibit cell proliferation when compared with control (control vs LEE011, mean growth = 100.0% vs 80.23%, difference = 19.77%, 95% CI = 1.828% to 37.72%, P = .0377). The immunoblot analysis showed that BEZ235 treatment decreased pAKT, pmTOR and pERK whereas AZD2014 decreased only pmTOR. CONCLUSION: Taken together, upregulation of mTOR/AKT pathway in sarcoma patient derived cells was considerably inhibited by the treatment of AZD2014 and BEZ235 with downregulation of AKT pathway (greater extent for BEZ235). These molecules may be considered as treatment option in STS patient who have failed to pazopanib in the context of clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hee Kyung Kim
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Sun Young Kim
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Su Jin Lee
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Mihyeon Kang
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Seung Tae Kim
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jiryeon Jang
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | | | | | | | - Woong Yang Park
- Samsung Genome Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Sung Joo Kim
- Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Se Hoon Park
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeeyun Lee
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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