02 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS .indd

A three-dimensional in vitro model to study invasion
Verena Amberger-Murphy, Paula Kinsella, Lisa Murphy, Naomi Walsh
and Martin Clynes
National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland
Invasion and cell migration of tumour cells is one of the major problems in cancer
treatment. In particular malignant primary brain tumours are characterized by
extensive infiltration of the surrounding normal brain tissue and invasion as far
as the other hemisphere. This extensive tumour spread inevitably leads to tumour
recurrence even after radical surgical resection. It is, therefore, important to achieve
a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in cell migration and invasion.
Most animal models for brain cancer, in particular, fail to produce invasive tumours;
therefore, good in vitro models are needed.
The three-dimensional invasion model is based on the implantation of either
multicellular spheroids or tumour explants into a collagen type I matrix. Cell invasion
into the surrounding collagen is monitored over several days/weeks.
This model offers the possibility
• To qualitatively and quantitatively study invasive behaviour of normal and
tumour cells.
• To investigate the influence of extracellular matrix molecules on cell invasion,
• To test the effect of inhibitors/drugs/drug combinations on cell invasion and
survival.
The gels can be fixed and embedded into paraffin for further histochemical or
immunohistochemical staining.
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We will present a variety of data using this three-dimensional invasion model:
• Invasion activity of fresh tumour explants in relation to their grade of
malignancy
• Invasion activity of primary and established cell lines in the presence and
absence of inhibitors/drug/drug combinations.
This invasion model has been tested with brain tumour explants and cell lines
originating from various tumours, e.g. lung, pancreas, brain. It is a fast and easy
method, which produces consistent data on cell invasion activity.