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An Ex Vivo Brain Slice Model to Study and Target Breast Cancer Brain Metastatic Tumor Growth
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

An Ex Vivo Brain Slice Model to Study and Target Breast Cancer Brain Metastatic Tumor Growth

Lorela Ciraku, Rebecca A. Moeller, Emily M. Esquea, Wiktoria A. Gocal, Edward J. Hartsough, Nicole L. Simone, Joshua G. Jackson and Mauricio J. Reginato
Journal of Visualized Experiments, v 2021(175)
2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3791/62617
PMID: 34633392
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8751251View
Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open

Abstract

Cancer Research
Brain metastasis is a serious consequence of breast cancer for women as these tumors are difficult to treat and are associated with poor clinical outcomes. Preclinical mouse models of breast cancer brain metastatic (BCBM) growth are useful but are expensive, and it is difficult to track live cells and tumor cell invasion within the brain parenchyma. Presented here is a protocol for ex vivo brain slice cultures from xenografted mice containing intracranially injected breast cancer brain-seeking clonal sublines. MDA-MB-231BR luciferase tagged cells were injected intracranially into the brains of Nu/Nu female mice, and following tumor formation, the brains were isolated, sliced, and cultured ex vivo. The tumor slices were imaged to identify tumor cells expressing luciferase and monitor their proliferation and invasion in the brain parenchyma for up to 10 days. Further, the protocol describes the use of time-lapse microscopy to image the growth and invasive behavior of the tumor cells following treatment with ionizing radiation or chemotherapy. The response of tumor cells to treatments can be visualized by live-imaging microscopy, measuring bioluminescence intensity, and performing histology on the brain slice containing BCBM cells. Thus, this ex vivo slice model may be a useful platform for rapid testing of novel therapeutic agents alone or in combination with radiation to identify drugs personalized to target an individual patient's breast cancer brain metastatic growth within the brain microenvironment.

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22 Record Views
9 citations in Web of Science
8 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Oncology
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