Indirect Coculture of Melanoma Cells with Stromal Cells Present in Their Microenvironment as a Method for Evaluation...

A tumor tissue consists not only of cancer cells but also of stromal cells, which often support cancer cell progression. Therefore, oncology research utilizes models that enable the study of cancer cell characteristics in the presence of noncancereous cells that, in vivo, also form the tumor. The following protocol describes the culturing of cancer cells with stromal cells (such as keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and adipocytes) in an indirect coculture model, in which both cell types exchange secretory factors in the culture medium but do not interact directly. This system allows for the assessment of the influence of one cell type on the other without the need to separate them through sorting to conduct further experiments based on only one selected cell type.