Robotic production of cancer cell spheroids with an aqueous two-phase system for drug testing

J Vis Exp. 2015 Apr 23:(98):e52754. doi: 10.3791/52754.

Abstract

Cancer cell spheroids present a relevant in vitro model of avascular tumors for anti-cancer drug testing applications. A detailed protocol for producing both mono-culture and co-culture spheroids in a high throughput 96-well plate format is described in this work. This approach utilizes an aqueous two-phase system to confine cells into a drop of the denser aqueous phase immersed within the second aqueous phase. The drop rests on the well surface and keeps cells in close proximity to form a single spheroid. This technology has been adapted to a robotic liquid handler to produce size-controlled spheroids and expedite the process of spheroid production for compound screening applications. Spheroids treated with a clinically-used drug show reduced cell viability with increase in the drug dose. The use of a standard micro-well plate for spheroid generation makes it straightforward to analyze viability of cancer cells of drug-treated spheroids with a micro-plate reader. This technology is straightforward to implement both robotically and with other liquid handling tools such as manual pipettes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Coculture Techniques
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / instrumentation
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / methods*
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays / instrumentation
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays / methods
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Robotics / instrumentation
  • Robotics / methods
  • Spheroids, Cellular / drug effects*
  • Spheroids, Cellular / pathology*