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Published on: October 30, 2013
The mucosal invasion model: a novel in vitro model for evaluating the invasive behavior of mucocutaneous malignancies
E L Rosenthal1, M K Wax, P Anderson
1Division of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1501 Fifth Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA. oto@uab.edu
Background:
Prevention of regional and metastatic spread of cutaneous malignancies requires understanding the physiologic mechanism of tumor cell invasion. In vitro models are convenient for studying the in vitro invasive phenotype of normal cells, tumor cell lines, or genetically altered cells in a 3-dimensional matrix, but they should attempt to recapitulate the complex in vivo submucosal environment. A new acellular extracellular matrix, porcine submucosal matrix (PSM), is thought to accurately recapitulate the submucosal matrix. A novel in vitro model using PSM to assess mucocutaneous tumor cell invasion was studied.
Methods:
The morphologic characteristics, growth, and invasive behavior of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (UM-SCC-1, UM-SCC-5, UM-SCC-17B, and OSC-19) cell lines were assessed on the PSM gel and compared with commonly used in vitro invasion models (type I collagen and Matrigel matrices). The invasive phenotype of canine kidney cells was also assessed on each matrix, because this cell line is known to demonstrate a characteristic in vitro invasive phenotype.
Results:
The PSM-supported head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tumor cell line growth and single cell invasion were seen under stimulated conditions, similar to type I collagen gels. The invasive phenotype of canine kidney cells behaved similarly on PSM and collagen. Matrigel did not support growth well, and invasion occurred only superficially in isolated areas.
Conclusion:
The PSM is a good in vitro model for assessment of pharmacologic and genetic manipulations of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tumor cell lines and has several advantages over other commonly used matrices.
