Abstract
Simple SummaryThe culture of lung cancer stem cells (LCSCs) is not possible using traditional flat polystyrene surfaces. The study of these tumor-initiating cells is fundamental due to their key role in the resistance to anticancer therapies, tumor recurrence, and metastasis. Hence, we evaluated the use of polycaprolactone electrospun (PCL-ES) scaffolds for culturing LCSC population in sensitive and resistant EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma models. Our findings revealed that both cell models seeded on PCL-ES structures showed a higher drug resistance, enhanced levels of several genes and proteins related to epithelial-to-mesenchymal process, stemness, and surface markers, and the activation of the Hedgehog pathway. We also determined that the non-expression of CD133 was associated with a low degree of histological differentiation, disease progression, distant metastasis, and worse overall survival in EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer patients. Therefore, we confirmed PCL-ES scaffolds as a suitable three-dimensional cell culture model for the study of LCSC niche. The establishment of a three-dimensional (3D) cell culture model for lung cancer stem cells (LCSCs) is needed because the study of these stem cells is unable to be done using flat surfaces. The study of LCSCs is fundamental due to their key role in drug resistance, tumor recurrence, and metastasis. Hence, the purpose of this work is the evaluation of polycaprolactone electrospun (PCL-ES) scaffolds for culturing LCSCs in sensitive and resistant EGFR-mutated (EGFRm) lung adenocarcinoma cell models. We performed a thermal, physical, and biological characterization of 10% and 15%-PCL-ES structures. Several genes and proteins associated with LCSC features were analyzed by RT-qPCR and Western blot. Vimentin and CD133 tumor expression were evaluated in samples from 36 patients with EGFRm non-small cell lung cancer through immunohistochemistry. Our findings revealed that PC9 and PC9-GR3 models cultured on PCL-ES scaffolds showed higher resistance to osimertinib, upregulation of ABCB1, Vimentin, Snail, Twist, Sox2, Oct-4, and CD166, downregulation of E-cadherin and CD133, and the activation of Hedgehog pathway. Additionally, we determined that the non-expression of CD133 was significantly associated with a low degree of histological differentiation, disease progression, and distant metastasis. To sum up, we confirmed PCL-ES scaffolds as a suitable 3D cell culture model for the study of the LCSC niche.
Highlights
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide among men and women [1]
Our study has demonstrated that the use of polycaprolactone electrospun (PCL-ES) scaffolds allows the enrichment of lung cancer stem cells (LCSCs), which are associated with cancer recurrence, resistance to therapies, and metastasis [7,8,9]
PCL-ES scaffolds are useful for the 3D cell culture of EGFRm lung adenocarcinoma cell models
Summary
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide among men and women [1]. The 5-year survival rate is 19.4%, and about 57% of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease when surgical resection is not possible and radio- and chemotherapy show a response rate of roughly 25% [2,3]. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common subtype, and approximately 40% of cases are diagnosed as adenocarcinoma [4]. The discovery of activating mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) led to the development of different targeted therapies, such as gefitinib or osimertinib. Despite the good initial response to these therapies, most patients develop progressive disease, acquiring resistance through different mechanisms [5,6]. There is an indubitable need to better understand the disease in order to identify new biomarkers
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