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Tumor and normal thyroid spheroids: from tissues to zebrafish.
Valentina Cirello1,2, Germano Gaudenzi3, Elisa S Grassi4
1Division of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Laboratory of Endocrine and Metabolic Research, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy - valentina.cirello@unimi.it.
Minerva Endocrinologica
|February 2, 2017
Summary
Thyroid cancer spheroids, enriched in stem-like cells, promote new blood vessel growth in vivo. This patient-derived xenograft model in zebrafish offers a new platform for preclinical anticancer drug testing.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Stem Cell Biology
- Angiogenesis Research
Background:
- Multicellular spheroids are valuable preclinical models for anticancer drug studies.
- Thyroid spheroids mimic original tissue features, including stem-like components.
- Patient-derived xenografts (PDX) of thyroid spheroids offer insights into papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize thyroid spheroids from PTC and matched normal tissues.
- To investigate the in vivo proangiogenic potential of these PDX spheroids.
- To evaluate the role of p53 expression in thyroid stem-like cells.
Main Methods:
- Spheroid cultures established from 11 PTCs and matched normal tissues.
- Immunohistochemistry used for spheroid characterization, including OCT4 and p53 expression.
- Proangiogenic effects assessed via zebrafish embryo xenografts.
Main Results:
- Thyroid spheroids are enriched in stem-like cells (OCT4 positive) with lower p53 expression compared to parent tissues.
- PDXs derived from both PTC and normal thyroid spheroids induced significant vessel growth in zebrafish embryos.
- Stimulated angiogenesis observed towards the spheroid implant site.
Conclusions:
- Thyroid spheroids are confirmed to be enriched in stem-like cells.
- Established in vivo zebrafish xenografts demonstrate spheroid-induced neoangiogenesis.
- This model serves as a promising platform for evaluating anticancer drug efficacy.
