Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide as most patients often suffer cancer relapse. The reason is often attributed to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Recent studies revealed that dysregulation of microRNA (miRNA) are closely linked to breast cancer recurrence and metastasis. However, no specific study has comprehensively characterised the CSC ...

Chemotherapy treatment of cancer remains a challenge due to the molecular and functional heterogeneity displayed by tumours originating from the same cell type. The pronounced heterogeneity makes it difficult for oncologists to devise an effective therapeutic strategy for the patient. One approach for increasing treatment efficacy is to test the chemosensitivity of cancer cells obtained from th...

The multicellular spheroid model partly mimics tumor microenvironments in vivo and has been reported in plenty of studies regarding radiosensitivity. However, clear isolation of quiescent and proliferating cells in live conditions has been quite difficult owing to technical limitations; therefore, comprehensive characterization could not be done thus far. In this study, we succeeded in separate...

The culture of EMT6/Ro multicellular tumor spheroids in a 20-fold range of glucose concentrations and a 4-fold range of oxygen tensions had profound effects on the cell subpopulations which developed in the spheroids. As the spheroids increased in diameter the rate of accumulation of cells with a G1-phase DNA content was much greater for those spheroids cultured in the lower oxygen and glucose ...

HeLa cells cocultured with human diploid fibroblasts developed a more stable and tightly packed spheroid than did HeLa cells alone. Mature spheroids with central necrosis resembled the cord structure of solid tumors in histological appearance and distribution of cells labeled by [3H]thymidine. Electron micros copy showed that HeLa cells in the spheroid are in close contact with each other and h...

Epidermal squamous cell carcinoma is among the most common cancers in humans. These tumors are comprised of phenotypically diverse populations of cells that display varying potential for proliferation and differentiation. An important goal is identifying cells from this population that drive tumor formation. To enrich for tumor-forming cells, cancer cells were grown as spheroids in non-attached...

A mathematical model is presented for the production of a growth inhibitory factor (GIF) within a multicell spheroid. The model is based on the assumption that the GIF diffuses within the spheroid in a nonlinear spatially dependent manner. This is in contrast with previous models, in which the nonlinearity was assumed in the production term. The results of the new model are compared with those ...

Tumor initiating cells (TIC) are increasingly being put forward as a potential target for intervention within colorectal cancer. Whilst characterisation and outgrowth of these cells has been extensively undertaken in primary colorectal cancers, few data are available describing characteristics within the metastatic setting. Tissue was obtained from patients undergoing surgical resection for col...

There is an increasing interest in using three-dimensional (3D) spheroids for modeling cancer and tissue biology to accelerate translation research. Development of higher throughput assays to quantify phenotypic changes in spheroids is an active area of investigation. The goal of this study was to develop higher throughput high-content imaging and analysis methods to characterize phenotypic cha...