Allen T D, Schor S L, Schor A M
Scan Electron Microsc. 1984(Pt 1):375-90.
Collagen gels, prepared from rat tail tendon, have been shown to be a useful system for the provision of a more physiologically relevant culture milieu than the rigid inert substratum of tissue culture plastic. The gel is penetrable by cells, but this depends on their origin, either mesenchymal or epithelial, normal or tumour derived. Furthermore, endothelial cells form a basement membrane on the gel surface from which they can be removed with detergent, providing a cell secreted substratum for testing the invasive ability of tumour derived cell lines. Various interactions between the cell and gel occur depending on cell type. Normal fibroblasts plated within the gel will stress and contract the matrix if the gel is freed and allowed to float in the culture medium. The fibroblasts also migrate to the surface and encapsulate the entire gel. Normal lymphocytes rapidly migrate into the gel and continue to move through the gel in a random manner, demonstrating gross changes in surface morphology. Studies are in progress to monitor the behaviour of leukaemic lymphocytes within the gels. Collagen gels will also support in vitro haemopoiesis, providing a useful environment for the positive selection of stromal cells. As an in vitro model for invasion and metastasis the plating of melanoma cells onto a monolayer of endothelium on the gels allows investigation of the interactions between the normal cells which form a barrier to circulating tumour cells and the tumour cells themselves.
由大鼠尾腱制备的胶原蛋白凝胶已被证明是一种有用的体系，它能提供比组织培养塑料的刚性惰性基质更具生理相关性的培养环境。细胞可以穿透这种凝胶，但这取决于细胞的来源，是间充质细胞还是上皮细胞，是正常细胞还是肿瘤衍生细胞。此外，内皮细胞在凝胶表面形成基底膜，可用去污剂将其从基底膜上移除，从而提供一种细胞分泌的基质来测试肿瘤衍生细胞系的侵袭能力。细胞与凝胶之间会根据细胞类型发生各种相互作用。如果凝胶被松开并使其漂浮在培养基中，接种在凝胶内的正常成纤维细胞会对基质施加压力并使其收缩。成纤维细胞还会迁移到表面并包裹整个凝胶。正常淋巴细胞会迅速迁移到凝胶中，并继续以随机方式在凝胶中移动，这表明其表面形态发生了显著变化。目前正在进行研究以监测白血病淋巴细胞在凝胶中的行为。胶原蛋白凝胶还能支持体外造血，为基质细胞的阳性选择提供了一个有用的环境。作为侵袭和转移的体外模型，将黑色素瘤细胞接种到凝胶上的单层内皮细胞上，可以研究形成循环肿瘤细胞屏障的正常细胞与肿瘤细胞本身之间的相互作用。
