(69g) Patterned Co-Culture of Breast Cancer Cells and Stromal Cells As An In Vitro Breast Cancer Model

The paracrine signaling
pathways between breast cancer cells (BCCs) and stromal
cells are critical for epithelial-mesenchymal
transition (EMT) and metastasis. The transformation of normal cells to
malignant cells and malignant cells to metastatic cells may depend on the
interaction between the cells and the cell microenvironment. Several cancer
studies have focused mainly on the mutated and highly proliferated cancer cell;
however, during the last decade, the role of the tumor microenvironment (TME)
has been shown to play a significant role in the malignant evolution of neoplasia and cancer progression. Considering the
rebuilding of TME, in the present study, we engineered a
platform to co-culture breast cancer cells (BCCs) with stromal
cells. The use of cell systems or in vitro models that more closely
recapitulates the in vivo like signaling in BCCs would be desirable to increase
the possibility of translating results of culture models into patient care. It
is known that the TME of the mammary gland is
composed
of ECM and stromal cells in a well ordered
architecture that is disrupted during tumor initiation and
progression. Therefore, we engineered an in vitro patterned co-culture model
having structural similarities of in vivo by recreating the cell-cell
interaction in the TME. Recent advances in micro-fabrication
techniques have made it possible to engineer surfaces that mimic in vivo
mechanical and structural aspects of cellular microenvironment. Using the same
approach we have established the patterned co-culture of BCCs and stromal cells. Results showed that co-culture of BCCs with stromal cells affected the proliferation, gene and protein
expression as compared to monoculture, thus, modulates the biology of breast
cancer cells. Our in vitro patterned co-culture model is capable of controlling
cell placement and size of the cells arrays and provides a valuable tool to
study paracrine cell-cell interactions.