MCF7 Spheroid Development: New Insight about Spatio/Temporal Arrangements of TNTs, Amyloid Fibrils, Cell Connections, and Cellular Bridges.

ABSTRACT: Human breast adenocarcinoma cells (MCF7) grow in three-dimensional culture as spheroids that represent the structural complexity of avascular tumors. Therefore, spheroids offer a powerful tool for studying cancer development, aggressiveness, and drug resistance. Notwithstanding the large amount of data regarding the formation of MCF7 spheroids, a detailed description of the morpho-functional changes during their aggregation and maturation is still lacking. In this study, in addition to the already established role of gap junctions, we show evidence of tunneling nanotube (TNT) formation, amyloid fibril production, and opening of large stable cellular bridges, thus reporting the sequential events leading to MCF7 spheroid formation. The variation in cell phenotypes, sustained by dynamic expre

SUBMITTER: Pulze L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7432950 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature