Role and mechanisms of a three-dimensional bioprinted microtissue model in promoting proliferation and invasion of growth-hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma cells

Abstract

Growth-hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma (GHSPA) is a benign tumour with a high incidence and large economic burden, which greatly affects quality of life. The aetiological factors are yet to be clarified for GHSPA. Conventional two-dimensional (2D) monolayer culture of tumour cells cannot ideally reflect the growth status of tumours in the physiological environment, and insufficiencies of in vitro models have severely restricted the progress of cancer research. Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology is being increasingly used in various fields of biology and medicine, which allows recapitulation of the in vivo growth environment of tumour cells. In this study, a GHSPA microtissue model was established using 3D bioprinting. Tumour cells in the 3D environment exhibited more active cell cycle progression, secretion, proliferation, invasion, and tumourigenesis compared with those in the 2D environment. Furthermore, the molecular mechanisms of the 3D-printed microtissue model were explored. We demonstrated that the 3D-printed microtissue provides an excellent in vitro model at the tissue level for oncological research and may facilitate in-depth studies on the aetiology, treatment, drug resistance, and long-term prognosis of GHSPA .

Moving Electrospun Nanofibers and Bioprinted Scaffolds toward Translational Applications

“…The Xu group from Tsinghua University, China, reported a series of studies involving the development of 3D bioprinting and made lots of efforts in preclinical translation . In one study, they combined biomimetic shape, autogenous bone matrix, and autogenous cells in one step for patient‐specific repair through the use of 3D bioprinting .…”

Emerging Biomimetic Materials for Studying Tumor and Immune Cell Behavior

“…102 Recently, alginate-based bioinks have been used to form 3D tissue spheroids of bone, cartilage, vascular tissue, and diverse tumors through bioprinting. 5,22,37,71,92,132 Compared to previous spheroid formation techniques, this method has been shown to improve cell viability, function, and architecture. 3D printing can form a ready-to-use tumor model that can mimic interactions with the ECM and with other cells in a coculture system.…”

Three Dimensional Cell Culturing for Modeling Adrenal and Pituitary Tumors

“…Interestingly, in several tumor types 3D models have been introduced into research modalities however they are lacking regarding endocrine tumor types. To date, four of each adrenocortical carcinoma, pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (pitNET) and pheochromocytoma [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] reports have been published using 3D cultures, they are different in terms of the applied methods and no viability and lifespan analysis have been tested and compared among different culture conditions. Therefore, in the use of 3D culturing in routine research applications the methodology should be optimized and standardized in order to maintain viability observed in vivo systems.…”