Quantitative Spatial Analysis of Metabolic Heterogeneity Across in vivo and in vitro Tumor Models.

ABSTRACT: Metabolic preferences of tumor cells vary within a single tumor, contributing to tumor heterogeneity, drug resistance, and patient relapse. However, the relationship between tumor treatment response and metabolically distinct tumor cell populations is not well-understood. Here, a quantitative approach was developed to characterize spatial patterns of metabolic heterogeneity in tumor cell populations within in vivo xenografts and 3D in vitro cultures (i.e., organoids) of head and neck cancer. Label-free images of cell metabolism were acquired using two-photon fluorescence lifetime microscopy of the metabolic co-enzymes NAD(P)H and FAD. Previous studies have shown that NAD(P)H mean fluorescence lifetimes can identify metabolically distinct cells with varying drug response. Thus

SUBMITTER: Heaster TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6839277 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature