Phospholipid Mediator Induced Transformation in Three-Dimensional Cultures

Summary

The present protocol describes the setting up of 3D ‘on top’ cultures of a non-transformed breast epithelial cell line, MCF10A, that has been modified to study Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) induced transformation. Immuno-fluorescence has been used to assess the transformation and is discussed in detail.

Abstract

Several models have been developed to study cancer, such as rodent models and established cell lines. Valuable insights into carcinogenesis have been provided by studies using these models. Cell lines have provided an understanding of the deregulation of molecular signaling associated with breast tumorigenesis, while rodent models are widely used to study cellular and molecular characteristics of breast cancer in vivo. The establishment of 3D cultures of breast epithelial and cancerous cells aids in bridging the gap between in vivo and in vitro models by mimicking the in vivo conditions in vitro. This model can be used to understand the deregulation of complex molecular signaling events and the cellular characteristics during breast carcinogenesis. Here, a 3D culture system is modified to study a phospholipid mediator-induced (Platelet Activating Factor, PAF) transformation. Immunomodulators and other secreted molecules play a major role in tumor initiation and progression in the breast. In the present study, 3D acinar cultures of breast epithelial cells are exposed to PAF exhibited transformation characteristics such as loss of polarity and altered cellular characteristics. This 3D culture system will assist in shedding light on genetic and/or epigenetic perturbations induced by various small molecule entities in the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, this system will also provide a platform for the identification of novel as well as known genes that may be involved in the process of transformation.

Introduction

A myriad of models are available to study the progression of cancer, each of them being unique and representing a subtype of this complex disease. Each model provides unique and valuable insights into cancer biology and has improved the means to mimic the actual disease condition. Established cell lines grown as a monolayer have provided valuable insights into vital processes in vitro, such as proliferation, invasiveness, migration, and apoptosis¹. Though two-dimensional (2D) cell culture has been the traditional tool to investigate the response of mammalian cells to several environmental perturbations, extrapolation of these findings to predict tissue-level responses does not seem sufficiently convincing. The major limitation of the 2D cultures is that the microenvironment created differs largely from that of the breast tissue itself². 2D culture lacks the interaction of the cells with the extracellular matrix, which is vital for the growth of any tissue. Also, tensile forces experienced by the cell in monolayer cultures hinder the polarity of these cells, thus altering cell signaling and behavior^3,4,5. Three-dimensional (3D) culture systems have opened up a new avenue in the field of cancer research with their ability to mimic the in vivo conditions in vitro. Many crucial microenvironmental cues that are lost in 2D cell culture could be re-established using 3D cultures of laminin-rich extracellular matrix (lrECM)⁶.

Various studies have identified the importance of the tumor microenvironment in carcinogenesis^7,8. Inflammation-associated factors are a major part of the microenvironment. Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) is a phospholipid mediator secreted by various immune cells that mediates multiple immune responses^9,10. High levels of PAF are secreted by different breast cancer cell lines and are associated with enhanced proliferation¹¹. Studies from our lab have shown that the prolonged presence of PAF in acinar cultures leads to the transformation of breast epithelial cells¹². PAF activates the PAF receptor (PAFR), activating the PI3K/Akt signaling axis¹³. PAFR is also reported to be associated with EMT, invasion, and metastasis¹⁴.

The present protocol demonstrates a model system to study PAF-induced transformation, using 3D cultures of breast epithelial cells, as has been previously described by Chakravarty et al.¹². The breast epithelial cells grown on the extracellular matrix (3D cultures) tend to form polarized growth-arrested spheroids. These are called acini and closely resemble the acini of breast tissue, the smallest functional unit of the mammary gland, in vivo¹⁵. These spheroids (Figure 1A,B) consist of a monolayer of closely packed polarized epithelial cells surrounding a hollow lumen and attached to the basement membrane (Figure 1C). This process of morphogenesis has been well described in literature¹⁶. When seeded on lrECM, the cells undergo division and differentiation to form a cluster of cells, which then polarize from Day 4 onwards. By Day 8, the acini consist of a group of polarized cells that are in direct contact with the extracellular matrix and a cluster of unpolarized cells enclosed within the outer polarized cells, with no contact to the matrix. These unpolarized cells are known to undergo apoptosis by Day 12 of culture, forming a hollow lumen. By Day 16, growth-arrested structures are formed¹⁶.

Figure 1: Nuclei of cells in acini stained with a nuclear stain. (A) 3D construction of the acini. (B) Phase Contrast image of MCF10A acini grown on Matrigel for 20 days. (C) The centermost section shows the presence of a hollow lumen. Scale bar = 20 µm. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Unlike 2D cultures, acinar cultures aid in distinguishing normal and transformed cells through apparent morphology changes. Non-transformed breast epithelial cells form acini with a hollow lumen, mimicking the normal human breast acini. These spheroids, upon transformation, show a disrupted morphology characterized by a major loss of polarity (one of the hallmarks of cancer), absence of a lumen, or disruption of the hollow lumen (due to evasion of apoptosis) that may be induced due to deregulation of various genes^17,18,19,20. These transformations can be studied using commonly used techniques such as immunofluorescence. Thus, the 3D cell culture model can function as a simple method to investigate the process of breast acinar morphogenesis and breast carcinogenesis. Establishing a 3D culture system to understand the effect of a phospholipid mediator, PAF, will assist in high throughput preclinical drug screening.

This work has adapted the 3D 'on top' culture protocol^16,21 for studying transformation induced by PAF²². The phenotypic changes induced by exposure of the acini to the phospholipid mediator were studied using immunofluorescence. Various polarity and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers^12,16 were used in the study. Table 1 mentions their normal localization and their expected phenotype upon transformation.

Antibodies	Marks	Normal localization	Transformed phenotype
α6-Integrin	Basolateral	Basal with weak lateral stain	Strong lateral / Apical stain
β-Catenin	Cell-cell junction	Basolateral	Abnormal / nuclear or cytoplasmic localization
Vimentin	EMT	Absent / weak presence	Up-regulation

Table 1: Markers used in the study. Different markers used with their localization in the presence and absence of PAF treatment.

This method can be best utilized to study/screen plausible drugs and target genes for various breast cancer subtypes. This can provide a drug response data closer to the in vivo scenario, aiding in faster and more reliable drug development. Also, this system can be used to study the molecular signaling associated with drug response and drug resistance.

Protocol

1. Seeding MCF10A cells in lrECM Maintain MCF10A cells (adherent breast epithelial cells) in the growth medium. Passage the cells every 4 days. NOTE: Composition of growth medium: high glucose DMEM without sodium pyruvate containing horse serum (5%), insulin (10 µg/mL), hydrocortisone (0.5 µg/mL), epidermal growth factor, EGF (20 ng/mL), of cholera toxin (100 ng/mL), and penicillin-streptomycin (100 units/mL) (see Table of Materials). Thaw lrECM (se…

Representative Results

MCF10A cells, upon exposure to PAF treatment, form acinar structures with very distinct phenotypes. α6-integrin was found to be mislocalized with more apical staining. A few acini also showed discontinuous staining (Figure 2A). Both these phenotypes indicate the loss of basal polarity, as evidenced from literature24,25. Earlier reports indicate the controversial role of α6-integrin in cancer metastasis. α6-integrin is …

Discussion

Established cell line-based models are widely used to study the process of carcinogenesis. Monolayer cultures of cells continue to provide insights into the various molecular signaling pathways that mediate characteristic changes in cancer cells³². Studies on the role of well-known oncogenes such as Ras, Myc, and mutated p53 were first reported using monolayer cultures as the model system^{33,34,35,</s…}

Materials

0.05% Trypsin EDTA	Invitrogen	25300062
16% paraformaldehyde	Alfa Aesar	AA433689M
Anti Mouse Alexa Flour 488	Invitrogen	A11029
Anti Rabbit Alexa Flour 488	Invitrogen	A-11008
BSA	Sigma	A7030
Chamber Coverglass	Nunc	155409
Cholera Toxin	Sigma	C8052-1MG	1 mg/mL in dH2O
Confocal Microscope	Leica	Leica SP8
DMEM	Gibco	11965126
EDTA	Sigma	E6758
EGF	Sigma	E9644-0.2MG	100 mg/mL in dH2O
F(ab’)2 fragment of antibody raised in goat against mouse antigen	Jackson Immunoresearch	115-006-006
GM130 antibody	Abcam	ab52649
Goat Serum	Abcam	ab7481
Hoechst	Invitrogen	33258
Horse Serum	Gibco	16050122
Hydrocortisone	Sigma	H0888	1 mg/mL in ethanol
Image Processing Software	ImageJ
Insulin	Sigma	I1882	10 mg/mL stock dH2O
lrECM (Matrigel)	Corning	356231
Mounting reagent (Slow fade Gold Anti-fade)	Invitrogen	S36937
Nuclear Stain  (Hoechst)	Invitrogen	33258
PAF	Cayman Chemicals	91575-58-5	Methylcarbamyl PAF C-16, procured as a 10 mg/mL in ethanol
Penicillin-Streptomycin	Lonza	17-602E
Sodium Azide	Sigma	S2002
Tris Base	Sigma	B9754
Triton X-100	Sigma	T8787
Tween 20	Sigma	P9416
Vimentin antibody	Abcam	ab92547
α6-integrin antibody	Millipore	MAB1378