Direct-Contact Co-culture of Astrocytes and Glioblastoma Cells Patterned using Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Templates

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is the most abundant and fatal malignant brain cancer. There are more than 13,000 cases projected in the United States in 2020 and 2021. GBM tumors most often arise from astrocytes and are characterized by their invasive nature, often recruiting healthy tissues into tumor tissue. Understanding communication between astrocytes and glioblastoma cells is vital for the molecular understanding of tumor progression. This protocol demonstrates a novel patterned co-culture method to investigate contact-mediated effects of astrocytes on GBM employing layer-by-layer assembly and micro-capillary-force driven patterning. Advantages include a protein-free cell culture environment and precise control of cellular interaction dictated by the pattern dimensions. This technique provides a versatile, economical, reproducible protocol for mimicking cellular interaction between glioma and astrocytes in glioma tumors. This model can further be used to tease apart changes in GBM molecular biology due to physical contact with astrocytes or with non-contact mediated soluble cofactor communication.