Phospholipid Mediator Induced Transformation in Three-Dimensional Cultures

Summary

The present protocol describes the setting up of 3D 'on top' cultures of a non-transformed breast epithelial cell line, MCF10A, that has been modified to study Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) induced transformation. Immuno-fluorescence has been used to assess the transformation and is discussed in detail.

Abstract

Several models have been developed to study cancer, such as rodent models and established cell lines. Valuable insights into carcinogenesis have been provided by studies using these models. Cell lines have provided an understanding of the deregulation of molecular signaling associated with breast tumorigenesis, while rodent models are widely used to study cellular and molecular characteristics of breast cancer in vivo. The establishment of 3D cultures of breast epithelial and cancerous cells aids in bridging the gap between in vivo and in vitro models by mimicking the in vivo conditions in vitro. This model can be used to understand the deregulation of complex molecular signaling events and the cellular characteristics during breast carcinogenesis. Here, a 3D culture system is modified to study a phospholipid mediator-induced (Platelet Activating Factor, PAF) transformation. Immunomodulators and other secreted molecules play a major role in tumor initiation and progression in the breast. In the present study, 3D acinar cultures of breast epithelial cells are exposed to PAF exhibited transformation characteristics such as loss of polarity and altered cellular characteristics. This 3D culture system will assist in shedding light on genetic and/or epigenetic perturbations induced by various small molecule entities in the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, this system will also provide a platform for the identification of novel as well as known genes that may be involved in the process of transformation.

Introduction

A myriad of models are available to study the progression of cancer, each of them being unique and representing a subtype of this complex disease. Each model provides unique and valuable insights into cancer biology and has improved the means to mimic the actual disease condition. Established cell lines grown as a monolayer have provided valuable insights into vital processes in vitro, such as proliferation, invasiveness, migration, and apoptosis¹. Though two-dimensional (2D) cell culture has been the traditional tool to investigate the response of mammalian cells to several environmental perturbations, extrapolation of these findings ....

Protocol

1. Seeding MCF10A cells in lrECM

1. Maintain MCF10A cells (adherent breast epithelial cells) in the growth medium. Passage the cells every 4 days.
   NOTE: Composition of growth medium: high glucose DMEM without sodium pyruvate containing horse serum (5%), insulin (10 µg/mL), hydrocortisone (0.5 µg/mL), epidermal growth factor, EGF (20 ng/mL), of cholera toxin (100 ng/mL), and penicillin-streptomycin (100 units/mL) (see Table of Materials).
2. Thaw lrECM (see Table of Materials) on ice 20 min before the start of the experiment. The day of seeding the cells is generally considered Day 0.

Results

MCF10A cells, upon exposure to PAF treatment, form acinar structures with very distinct phenotypes. α6-integrin was found to be mislocalized with more apical staining. A few acini also showed discontinuous staining (Figure 2A). Both these phenotypes indicate the loss of basal polarity, as evidenced from literature^24,25. Earlier reports indicate the controversial role of α6-integrin in cancer metastasis. α6-integrin is present as a di.......

Discussion

Established cell line-based models are widely used to study the process of carcinogenesis. Monolayer cultures of cells continue to provide insights into the various molecular signaling pathways that mediate characteristic changes in cancer cells³². Studies on the role of well-known oncogenes such as Ras, Myc, and mutated p53 were first reported using monolayer cultures as the model system^33,34,35,

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
0.05% Trypsin EDTA	Invitrogen	25300062
16% paraformaldehyde	Alfa Aesar	AA433689M
Anti Mouse Alexa Flour 488	Invitrogen	A11029
Anti Rabbit Alexa Flour 488	Invitrogen	A-11008
BSA	Sigma	A7030
Chamber Coverglass	Nunc	155409
Cholera Toxin	Sigma	C8052-1MG	1 mg/mL in dH2O
Confocal Microscope	Leica	Leica SP8
DMEM	Gibco	11965126
EDTA	Sigma	E6758
EGF	Sigma	E9644-0.2MG	100 mg/mL in dH2O
F(ab’)2 fragment of antibody raised in goat against mouse antigen	Jackson Immunoresearch	115-006-006
GM130 antibody	Abcam	ab52649
Goat Serum	Abcam	ab7481
Hoechst	Invitrogen	33258
Horse Serum	Gibco	16050122
Hydrocortisone	Sigma	H0888	1 mg/mL in ethanol
Image Processing Software	ImageJ
Insulin	Sigma	I1882	10 mg/mL stock dH2O
lrECM (Matrigel)	Corning	356231
Mounting reagent (Slow fade Gold Anti-fade)	Invitrogen	S36937
Nuclear Stain  (Hoechst)	Invitrogen	33258
PAF	Cayman Chemicals	91575-58-5	Methylcarbamyl PAF C-16, procured as a 10 mg/mL in ethanol
Penicillin-Streptomycin	Lonza	17-602E
Sodium Azide	Sigma	S2002
Tris Base	Sigma	B9754
Triton X-100	Sigma	T8787
Tween 20	Sigma	P9416
Vimentin antibody	Abcam	ab92547
α6-integrin antibody	Millipore	MAB1378