Development of a 3D Tumor Spheroid Model from the Patient’s Glioblastoma Cells and Its Study by Metabolic Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging
D V Yuzhakova, Maria M. Lukina, D A Sachkova, G M Yusubalieva, V P Baklaushev, A.M. Mozherov, V V Dudenkova, A I Gavrina, K S Yashin, M V Shirmanova
Abstract
was to develop a model of a 3D tumor glioblastoma spheroid based on a patient's surgical material and to study its metabolic characteristics by means of fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy of metabolic coenzymes. Materials and Methods: ). Results: An original protocol for 3D glioblastoma spheroids cultivation was developed. Primary glial cultures from surgical material of patients were obtained and characterized. The isolated glioblastoma cells had a spindle-shaped morphology with numerous processes and a pronounced granularity of cytoplasm. All cultures expressed glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). The optimal seeding dose of 2000 cells per well was specified; its application results in formation of spheroids with a dense structure and stable growth during 7 days. The FLIM method helped to establish that spheroid cells from the patient material had a generally similar metabolism to spheroids from the stable line, however, they demonstrated more pronounced metabolic heterogeneity. Cultivation of spheroids under hypoxic conditions revealed a transition to a more glycolytic type of metabolism, which is expressed in an increase in the contribution of the free form of NAD(P)H to fluorescence decay. Conclusion: The developed model of tumor spheroids from patients' glioblastomas in combination with the FLIM can serve as a tool to study characteristics of tumor metabolism and develop predictive tests to evaluate the effectiveness of antitumor therapy.