Stromal fibroblasts are required for PC-3 human prostate cancer cells to produce capillary-like formation of endothelial cells in a three-dimensional co-culture system.
1997; National Institutes of Health; Volume: 17; Issue: 3A Linguagem: Inglês
Autores
Régis Janvier, Antigone Sourla, Michael Koutsilieris, Charles J. Doillon,
Tópico(s)Cancer Cells and Metastasis
ResumoThe outcome of patients with prostate cancer is largely dependent on the ability of the primary tumor for local invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis. To better understand the cell-cell interactions that participate in prostate cancer neovascularization, we have developed a novel three-dimensional co-culture system. Capillary-like structures were induced in fibrin gel in which collagen gels containing fibroblasts and/or PC-3 human prostate adenocarcinoma cells were sandwiched together. In the presence of collagen-embedded fibroblasts, angiogenesis apparently occurred, while endothelial cells did not survive when only PC-3 cells were embedded in collagen. In contrast, when PC-3 cells were combined with fibroblasts in collagen gel an enhanced formation of capillary-like structure formation was noted, particularly using FGF-2-supplemented medium. In addition, we observed morphological evidence of PC-3 cells and fibroblast invasion into fibrin using this system. Therefore, we conclude that fibroblasts apparently play an important role in angiogenesis and tumor invasion. Furthermore, this novel three-dimensional co-culture is apparently a promising model for studying de novo angiogenesis and tumor invasion in vitro.
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