Institute for Photon Science and Synchrotron Radiation (IPS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1 Bldg 329, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Karlsruhe D-76344, Germany.
Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2017 Feb 1;71:465-472. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2016.10.038. Epub 2016 Oct 21.
Prostate cancer (PCa) currently is the second most diagnosed cancer in men and the second most cause of cancer death after lung cancer in Western societies. This sets the necessity of modelling prostatic disorders to optimize a therapy against them. The conventional approach to investigating prostatic diseases is based on two-dimensional (2D) cell culturing. This method, however, does not provide a three-dimensional (3D) environment, therefore impeding a satisfying simulation of the prostate gland in which the PCa cells proliferate. Cryogel scaffolds represent a valid alternative to 2D culturing systems for studying the normal and pathological behavior of the prostate cells thanks to their 3D pore architecture that reflects more closely the physiological environment in which PCa cells develop. In this work the 3D morphology of three potential scaffolds for PCa cell culturing was investigated by means of synchrotron X-ray computed micro tomography (SXCμT) fitting the according requirements of high spatial resolution, 3D imaging capability and low dose requirements very well. In combination with mechanical tests, the results allowed identifying an optimal cryogel architecture, meeting the needs for a well-suited scaffold to be used for 3D PCa cell culture applications. The selected cryogel was then used for culturing prostatic lymph node metastasis (LNCaP) cells and subsequently, the presence of multi-cellular tumor spheroids inside the matrix was demonstrated again by using SXCμT.
前列腺癌（PCa）目前是男性中第二大被诊断出的癌症，也是西方社会仅次于肺癌的第二大癌症死因。这就需要建立前列腺疾病模型，以优化针对这些疾病的治疗方法。传统的前列腺疾病研究方法基于二维（2D）细胞培养。然而，这种方法不能提供三维（3D）环境，因此难以令人满意地模拟前列腺中 PCa 细胞的增殖。由于其 3D 孔结构更接近 PCa 细胞发育的生理环境，因此水凝胶支架为研究前列腺细胞的正常和病理行为提供了一种替代二维培养系统的有效方法。在这项工作中，通过同步加速器 X 射线计算微断层扫描（SXCμT）研究了三种用于 PCa 细胞培养的潜在支架的 3D 形态，该方法非常适合高空间分辨率、3D 成像能力和低剂量要求的要求。结合机械测试，结果确定了一种最佳的水凝胶结构，满足了用于 3D PCa 细胞培养应用的合适支架的需求。然后，选择的水凝胶用于培养前列腺淋巴结转移（LNCaP）细胞，然后再次使用 SXCμT 证明了基质内有多细胞肿瘤球体的存在。
