3-dimensional tissue is formed from cancer cells in vitro on gelfoam ^®, but not on matrigel^TM

Cell and tissue culture can be performed on different substrates such as on plastic, in Matrigel™, and on Gelfoam^®, a sponge matrix. Each of these substrates consists of a very different surface, ranging from hard and inflexible, a gel, and a sponge-matrix, respectively. Folkman and Moscona found that cell shape was tightly coupled to DNA synthesis and cell growth. Therefore, the flexibility of a substrate is important for cells to maintain their optimal shape. Human osteosarcoma cells, stably expressing a fusion protein of α_v integrin and green fluorescent protein (GFP), grew as a simple monolayer without any structure formation on the surface of a plastic dish. When the osteosarcoma cells were cultured within Matrigel™, the cancer cells formed colonies but no other structures. When the cancer cells were seeded on Gelfoam^®, the cells formed three-dimensional tissue-like structures. The behavior of 143B osteosarcoma cells on Gelfoam ^® in culture is remarkably different from those of these cells in monolayer culture or in Matrigel™. Tissue-like structures were observed only in Gelfoam^® culture. The data in this report suggest a flexible structural substrate such as Gelfoam^® provides a more in vivo-like culture condition than monolayer culture or Matrigel^TM and that Matrigel^TM does not result in actual three-dimensional culture. J. Cell. Biochem. 115: 1362-1367, 2014.