Monitoring tumour-induced angiogenesis in 2D and 3D co-culture models

Abstract

Tumour angiogenesis, which is vital for the growing tumour mass, is a process by which tumour cells induce the formation of a blood vessel network from the existing vasculature for them to obtain the required oxygen and nutrients. Much interest has recently been placed on the study of tumour angiogenesis as it is hoped that by eradicating the blood supply of tumours, the tumours will be deprived of the means to grow. A promising angiogenesis differentiation assay used to monitor angiogenesis is the co-culture of stromal cells with endothelial cells. While there has been much research on the co-culture method, few have experimented on the co-culture of tumour cells with endothelial cells. Therefore, in this research project, a novel angiogenesis differentiation assay is proposed which involves the co-culture of tumour cells with endothelial cells on 2D and 3D platforms. Co-cultivation of tumour and endothelial cells brings the two types of cells into direct contact. This allows interaction and signalling between the neighbouring tumour and endothelial cells, resulting in the secretion of factors that ultimately culminates with the proliferation, migration, activation and differentiation of the endothelial cell. The eventual outcome will be the formation of an endothelial network mimicking angiogenesis. After monitoring angiogenesis in the co-cultures, pro-angiogenic factors and anti-angiogenic agents were then added to prove their pro-angiogenic or anti-angiogenic effects.