Modeling Metastatic Colonization in a Decellularized Organ Scaffold-Based Perfusion Bioreactor

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cancer Biology
• Extracellular Matrix Research

Background:

• Metastatic cancer spread causes most cancer deaths.
• The extracellular matrix (ECM) is crucial for tissue homeostasis and disease, regulating cancer cell invasion.
• Existing tools lack the ability to study cancer cell behavior within native 3D ECM.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and present a novel bioreactor system for studying cancer cell colonization of native organ ECM scaffolds.
• To enable microscopic monitoring of cancer cell behavior (proliferation, migration) within 3D ECM.
• To provide a flexible platform for co-culturing diverse cell types within an organ-specific context.

Main Methods:

• Design and implementation of an in-house bioreactor system.
• Perfusion of mouse organ ECM scaffolds within the bioreactor.
• Seeding and culturing of cancer cells within the ECM scaffolds.
• Microscopic observation of cell behavior and ECM remodeling.
• Co-culturing of normal and tumor microenvironment cell types.

Main Results:

• The bioreactor system successfully recapitulates in vivo cancer cell signaling.
• Cancer cells demonstrated remodeling of complex native ECM within the bioreactor.
• The system supports co-culturing of genetically diverse cells, simulating the tumor microenvironment.
• Microscopic monitoring allowed detailed observation of cell proliferation and migration within the 3D scaffold.

Conclusions:

• The novel bioreactor provides a controllable, organ-specific 3D system for studying cancer cell-ECM interactions ex vivo.
• This platform enhances understanding of cell-cell and cell-ECM interplay in cancer metastasis.
• The system opens new avenues for modeling cancer progression and disease in a native tissue context.