The morphology of cell spheroids in simple shear flow

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ferraro, Rosalia, Di Franco, Jasmin, Caserta, Sergio, Guido, Stefano
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Ferraro, Rosalia
Di Franco, Jasmin
Caserta, Sergio
Guido, Stefano
author_facet Ferraro, Rosalia
Di Franco, Jasmin
Caserta, Sergio
Guido, Stefano
contents Cell spheroids are a widely used model to investigate cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in a 3D microenvironment in vitro. Most research on cell spheroids has been focused on their response to various stimuli under static conditions. Recently, the effect of flow on cell spheroids has been investigated in the context of tumor invasion in interstitial space. In particular, microfluidic perfusion of cell spheroids embedded in a collagen matrix has been shown to modulate cell-cell adhesion and to represent a possible mechanism promoting tumor invasion by interstitial flow. However, studies on the effects of well-defined flow fields on cell spheroids are lacking in the literature. Here, we apply simple shear flow to cell spheroids in a parallel plate apparatus while observing their morphology by optical microscopy. By using image analysis techniques, we show that cell spheroids rotate under flow as rigid particles. As time goes on, cells from the outer layer detach from the sheared cell spheroids and are carried away by the flow. Hence, the size of cell spheroids declines with time at a rate increasing with the external shear stress, which can be used to estimate cell-cell adhesion. The technique proposed in this work allows one to correlate flow-induced effects with microscopy imaging of cell spheroids in a well-established shear flow field, thus providing a method to obtain quantitative results which are relevant in the general field of mechanobiology.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_07528
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The morphology of cell spheroids in simple shear flow
Ferraro, Rosalia
Di Franco, Jasmin
Caserta, Sergio
Guido, Stefano
Cell Behavior
Cell spheroids are a widely used model to investigate cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in a 3D microenvironment in vitro. Most research on cell spheroids has been focused on their response to various stimuli under static conditions. Recently, the effect of flow on cell spheroids has been investigated in the context of tumor invasion in interstitial space. In particular, microfluidic perfusion of cell spheroids embedded in a collagen matrix has been shown to modulate cell-cell adhesion and to represent a possible mechanism promoting tumor invasion by interstitial flow. However, studies on the effects of well-defined flow fields on cell spheroids are lacking in the literature. Here, we apply simple shear flow to cell spheroids in a parallel plate apparatus while observing their morphology by optical microscopy. By using image analysis techniques, we show that cell spheroids rotate under flow as rigid particles. As time goes on, cells from the outer layer detach from the sheared cell spheroids and are carried away by the flow. Hence, the size of cell spheroids declines with time at a rate increasing with the external shear stress, which can be used to estimate cell-cell adhesion. The technique proposed in this work allows one to correlate flow-induced effects with microscopy imaging of cell spheroids in a well-established shear flow field, thus providing a method to obtain quantitative results which are relevant in the general field of mechanobiology.
title The morphology of cell spheroids in simple shear flow
topic Cell Behavior
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.07528