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Gene expression in a three-dimensionally cultivated human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) model

ABSTRACT: The development of more complex but reliable systems for compound testing in a pharmaceutical context is a challenging task to date. Three-dimensional (3D), organ mimetic cell culture is aiming to become an alternative to common two-dimensional (2D) cell culture or animal testing in that field. We developed a biocompatible 3D cell culture environment for a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) model that enables cellular maintenance in a polycarbonate scaffold structure. Albumin, regarded as a differentiation marker, was elevated in statically 3D cultivated HepG2 cells. Expression of HCC tumor marker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was reduced compared to immunofluorescence stainings of 2D cultivated cells. Remarkably, expression of cytokeratin and pathophysiologically relevant beta-1 integrin (ITGB1) was found enhanced in nonperfused 3D cell culture. Changes in gene expression induced by the 3D cultivation environment were investigated using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). Our findings revealed involvement of the insulin growth factor (IGF) signaling pathway in upregulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and ITGB1. The experimental data indicate a more differentiated state in 3D cultivated HepG2 cells than in the respective 2D experiments. Hence, scaffold-supported 3D cultivation of HepG2 cells may lead to a gain of information valuable for both drug testing and cancer research.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE41962 | GEO | 2012/11/01

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA178612

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The development of more complex but reliable systems for compound testing in a pharmaceutical context is a challenging task to date. Three-dimensional (3D), organ mimetic cell culture is aiming to become an alternative to common two-dimensional (2D) cell culture or animal testing in that field. We developed a biocompatible 3D cell culture environment for a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) model that enables cellular maintenance in a polycarbonate scaffold structure. Albumin, regarded as a differentiation marker, was elevated in statically 3D cultivated HepG2 cells. Expression of HCC tumor marker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was reduced compared to immunofluorescence stainings of 2D cultivated cells. Remarkably, expression of cytokeratin and pathophysiologically relevant beta-1 integrin (ITGB1) was found enhanced in nonperfused 3D cell culture. Changes in gene expression induced by the 3D cultivation environment were investigated using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). Our findings revealed involvement of the insulin growth factor (IGF) signaling pathway in upregulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and ITGB1. The experimental data indicate a more differentiated state in 3D cultivated HepG2 cells than in the respective 2D experiments. Hence, scaffold-supported 3D cultivation of HepG2 cells may lead to a gain of information valuable for both drug testing and cancer research. HepG2 cells were cultivated for five days under 2D and 3D statical and perfused conditions. Cultivation was started with 0.25x10^6 cells in 2D and with 1x10^6 vital cells for the 3D experiments. The day of seeding was defined as d0. The groups were classified as follows: 2D, i.e., monolayer cultures, 3D, i.e., statical 3D cultures and BR, which denotes perfused 3D culture of HepG2 cells. The perfusable bioreactor system was operated using a peristaltic pump. It houses the MatriGrid, a polycarbonate-based microporous cellular support. For 3D static cultivation, cell-inoculated MatriGrids were placed in wells of a 24-well plate. Microarray experiments of three 2D (i.e., control), three 3D statically and three actively perfused 3D cultivations were performed at SIRS-Lab GmbH (SIRS-Lab GmbH, Jena, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions (Illumina, San Diego, CA). Altogether, 9 RNA samples of hepatocyte cultures and an internal control RNA were hybridized on two HumanHT-12 v4 Expression BeadChips.

Project description:Background: The main focus of the work was the evaluation of gene expression differences between our established NSCLC 3D cell culture model and the 2D cell culture in regard to the use of our model for drug screening applications. Methods: The non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines Colo699 and A549 were cultivated as monolayer (2D) on cell culture plates for five days or as microtissues (3D) in a hanging-drop system for five and ten days, respectively. Cells and microtissues were harvested and Affymetrix chip analyses were performed with the prior isolated RNA. This was repeated in three independent experiments. Subsequent biostatistical data analyses tested for reproducibility, comparability and significant differences in gene expression profiles between cell lines, experiments and culture methods. Results: The analyses revealed a high interassay correlation within the distinct culture systems, thus proving a high validity of our data. The comparison of 3D versus 2D cell cultures revealed significant differences in RNA expression (979 genes for A549; 1106 genes for Colo699), but the overlap of changes in RNA profiles between the cell lines at the individual gene level was small (149 genes), potentially reflecting overall heterogeneity and their origin, i.e. primary vs pleural effusion. Nevertheless, these RNA expression changes affected most relevant cancer-associated pathways as DNA methylation, cell cycle, rRNA expression and meiosis pathways. Furthermore, the expression differences between 2D and 3D were more evident after longer cultivation time, which supports the hypothesis of cultivation related mechanisms and the usage of long-time cultivation systems. Conclusion: In summary, our data support the need of innovative 3D drug testing systems to close the gap between in-vitro drug screening and in-vivo data. Thus, our 3D NSCLC model might provide a model to address the challenge of microenviroment associated resistance mechanisms, as well as cell-cell interaction related effects.

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Gene expression in a three-dimensionally cultivated human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) model

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