Skip to main content
. 2018 Mar 21;19(4):935. doi: 10.3390/ijms19040935

Figure 2.

Figure 2

New discoveries about cancer and other diseases based on 3-D ECM systems in vitro. (A1) Spatiotemporal interactions between breast cancer cells and stromal cells are studied in a coculture system established by 3-D bioprinting technology. Cancer cells could recruit the stromal cells by differentiating into α-SMA positive cells, dashed line circle indicates the colony formed by cancer cells. (A2) Cancer cells (MCF-7) and stromal cells are co-cultured with high seeding density on the polycaprolactone nanofiber matrices. (i-iii) show the fluorescence images after co-cultured for 1 week to 3 weeks. The control seeding, without cancer cells, shows that only a small part of stromal cells became α-SMA-positive cells (iv) Scale bar: 100 μm [29]; (B) Using a 3D ECM of collagen, a glucose gradient is established for studying the collective invasion of cancer cells. Scale bar: 150 μm [64]; (C) A 3-D funnel-like Matrigel interface is created inside the ECM microenvironment. Through the complex and heterogeneous 3-D ECM microenvironment, ECM heterogeneity is proved to be an essential element in controlling collective cell invasive behaviors, red dashed circle indicates the network and connection of invading cells with other invading branches, and black arrow shows the cell plane. [34]; (D) A complex concentration gradient of specific biological molecules is built in a 3-D microfluidic system including microchamber arrays. Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) produced by cancer cells are proven to play a dominant role in determining cellular behavior through the control of E-cad expression [18]; (E) Using a system made by bioprinting, cancer cells are shown to regulate angiogenesis through secretion. Cancer cells and endothelial cells are seeded far from each other (E1). Endothelial cells are found to sprout toward the cancer clusters. (E2) The fluorescence images of coculture of cancer cells and endothelial cells (i), and the control group of endothelial cells only (ii). Scale bar: 100 μm [29]. All figures shown here are reproduced with permission from copyright owner.