Preparation of Cancer Spheroid Blocks by Flash Freezing: A Procedure To Preserve Cancer Spheroids in Frozen Matrix Blocks

Published: April 30, 2023

Abstract

Source: Wang, Y. et al. 3-D Cell Culture System for Studying Invasion and Evaluating Therapeutics in Bladder Cancer. J. Vis. Exp. (2018)

This video demonstrates the preparation of cancer spheroid blocks by flash freezing, a technique in which a tissue sample of interest is frozen to an ultracold temperature, restraining the spheroids inside the matrix.

Protocol

1. Preparation of Sample Block Containing Cancer Spheroids for Frozen Tissue Sectioning Carefully lift the block of collagen gel and spheroids from the chamber slides by using small forceps. Place the collagen gel block in a plastic histology mold. Rinse the collagen gel with 1x PBS briefly and then fix it with 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in PBS for 30 min at room temperature. NOTE: PFA is a potential carcinogen and should be handled with care. Wash t…

Disclosures

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Materials

DMEM cell culture medium Thermo Fisher Scientific 11995065
Fetal bovine serum Thermo Fisher Scientific 26140079
Antibiotic-Antimycotic (100x) Thermo Fisher Scientific 15240062
Bovine serum albumin (BSA) Sigma-Aldrich A3803
Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS),
pH 7.4
Thermo Fisher Scientific 10010023
Collagen type 1 from rat tail, high
concentration
Corning 354249
Nunc Lab-Tek II Chambered
Coverglass
Thermo Fisher Scientific 155382
Paraformaldehyde solution Electron Microscopy Sciences 15710
O.C.T compound Thermo Fisher Scientific 23730571

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Cite This Article
Preparation of Cancer Spheroid Blocks by Flash Freezing: A Procedure To Preserve Cancer Spheroids in Frozen Matrix Blocks. J. Vis. Exp. (Pending Publication), e20562, doi: (2023).

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