Modeling Physiologic Microenvironments in Three-Dimensional Microtumors Maintains Brain Tumor Initiating Cells.

ABSTRACT: Development of effective novel anti-tumor treatments will require improved in vitro models that incorporate physiologic microenvironments and maintain intratumoral heterogeneity, including tumor initiating cells. Brain tumor initiating cells (BTIC) are a target for cancer therapy, because BTICs are highly tumorigenic and contribute to tumor angiogenesis, invasion, and therapeutic resistance. Current leading studies rely on BTIC isolation from patient-derived xenografts followed by propagation as neurospheres. As this process is expensive and time-consuming, we determined whether three-dimensional microtumors were an alternative in vitro method for modeling tumor growth via BITC maintenance and/or enrichment. Brain tumor cells were grown as neurospheres or as microtumors produced using the

SUBMITTER: Gilbert AN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5653320 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature