Using Patient-Derived Samples to Analyze the Correlation Between Peritoneal Stiffness and Ovarian Cancer Metastasis
Board Location: #21
Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Cancer Research
Session: 3
Zacchaeus Wallace - University of Southern Mississippi
According to the National Cancer Institute, metastasis accounts for over 90% of cancer deaths worldwide. It is associated with the high mortality rates of ovarian cancer, the deadliest form of gynecologic cancer. The mechanisms underlying metastasis remain poorly understood, and effective treatment options have not been identified to specifically mitigate this spread of cancer cells throughout the body. However, it is increasingly evident that cues from the tumor microenvironment contribute to metastatic behavior. In this research, the behavior of ovarian cancer cells in response to changes in stiffness is investigated. Our laboratory has developed a unique material, collagen methacrylamide (CMA), that maintains functional properties of type 1 collagen, such as bioactivity, biodegradability, and self-assembly, while also allowing stiffness to be tuned by the controlled ultraviolet (UV) light. Tumor-like spheroids were grown from HEYA8 cells, an ovarian cancer cell line. Spheroids were cultured within or on top of CMA and collagen hydrogels. Samples were either exposed or not exposed to UV. The outgrowth of cells from the spheroids was monitored over 3 days. We found the CMA hydrogels to have higher cell dispersion than collagen and the on conditions to be greater than the in conditions. These findings suggest that increased stiffness correlates to higher growth. This allows for the conclusion to be made that the CMA material can be further used with varying levels of UV exposure to mimic tumor stiffness in the peritoneum. Future work will repeat these experiments with more conditions regarding UV exposure and the use of patient-derived cells harvested from ascites fluid.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): NSF-EEC-1950509, “REU Site in Cellular Bioengineering: From Biomaterials to Stem Cells”
Faculty Advisor: Dr. David Shreiber, shreiber@soe.rutgers.edu
Role: During this project, I maintained and cultured a HEYA8 and an ascites-derived ovarian cancer cell line. With these cells, I grew spheroids using a hanging drop method. The spheroids were placed onto and into collagen and CMA hydrogels for a total of four separate conditions. The outgrowth of these cells was then imaged by me over the course of three days. The images were further analyzed to draw conclusions and make my poster.