Mimicking the tumor microenvironment to regulate macrophage phenotype and assessing chemotherapeutic efficacy in embedded cancer cell/macrophage spheroid models.

ABSTRACT: Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) are critical stromal components intimately involved with the progression, invasion, and metastasis of cancer cells. To address the need for an in vitro system that mimics the clinical observations of TAM localizations and subsequent functional performance, a cancer cell/macrophage spheroid model is described. The central component of the model is a triple negative breast cancer spheroid embedded in a three-dimensional collagen gel. Macrophages are incorporated in two different ways. The first is a heterospheroid, a spheroid containing both tumor cells and macrophages. The heterospheroid mimics the population of TAMs infiltrated into the tumor mass, thus being exposed to hypoxia and metabolic gradients. In the second model, macrophages are diffusely seede

SUBMITTER: Tevis KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5316313 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature