Issue 12, 2015

Chemical analysis of multicellular tumour spheroids

Abstract

Conventional two dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture has been considered the ‘gold standard’ technique for in vitro cellular experiments. However, the need for a model that better mimics the three dimensional (3D) architecture of tissue in vivo has led to the development of Multicellular Tumour Spheroids (MTS) as a 3D tissue culture model. To some extent MTS mimic the environment of in vivo tumours where, for example, oxygen and nutrient gradients develop, protein expression changes and cells form a spherical structure with regions of proliferation, senescence and necrosis. This review focuses on the development of techniques for chemical analysis of MTS as a tool for understanding in vivo tumours and a platform for more effective drug and therapy discovery. While traditional monolayer techniques can be translated to 3D models, these often fail to provide the desired spatial resolution and z-penetration for live cell imaging. More recently developed techniques for overcoming these problems will be discussed with particular reference to advances in instrument technology for achieving the increased spatial resolution and imaging depth required.

Graphical abstract: Chemical analysis of multicellular tumour spheroids

Article information

Article type
Tutorial Review
Submitted
16 Mar 2015
Accepted
23 Apr 2015
First published
23 Apr 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Analyst, 2015,140, 3910-3920

Author version available

Chemical analysis of multicellular tumour spheroids

L. E. Jamieson, D. J. Harrison and C. J. Campbell, Analyst, 2015, 140, 3910 DOI: 10.1039/C5AN00524H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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