Studying how human cancers spread and evolve is a complicated business. To provide a laboratory platform in which the growth of cancer can be monitored, researchers have been trying to construct organelles modeled on real organs within which cancer can proliferate.
In a new development on that front, at the Helmholtz Center in Munich, Germany scientists are now growing three dimensional “mini breasts” derived from individual human epithelial cells. They are using collagen gels that provide the foundation within which the cells can divide and grow. By using gels of different rigidities, they’ve been able to study what kinds of mammary gland tissues are most welcoming for the spread of cancer. While they’re not actually growing cancerous lesions, the researchers are looking at how normal stem cells are able to do their work in different gel environments. That is because cancer cells take on similar properties as healthy stem cells to proliferate, and the researchers have already identified some interesting facts.
From the study abstract:
We present an organoid regeneration assay in which freshly isolated human mammary epithelial cells are cultured in adherent or floating collagen gels, corresponding to a rigid or compliant matrix environment. In both conditions, luminal progenitors form spheres, whereas basal cells generate branched ductal structures. In compliant but not rigid collagen gels, branching ducts form alveoli at their tips, express basal and luminal markers at correct positions, and display contractility, which is required for alveologenesis. Thereby, branched structures generated in compliant collagen gels resemble terminal ductal-lobular units (TDLUs), the functional units of the mammary gland. Using the membrane metallo-endopeptidase CD10 as a surface marker enriches for TDLU formation and reveals the presence of stromal cells within the CD49fhi/EpCAM− population. In summary, we describe a defined in vitro assay system to quantify cells with regenerative potential and systematically investigate their interaction with the physical environment at distinct steps of morphogenesis.
Study in journal Development: Quantification of regenerative potential in primary human mammary epithelial cells…
Source: Helmholtz Center in Munich…