Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Developing a Multicomponent, Three-Dimensional Culture Model of Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal cancer is an uncommon form of cancer, making up just 1% of cancer diagnoses in the United States. While rare, a diagnosis of esophageal cancer carries a poor prognosis, with only 45% of patients surviving five years. One of the ways to improve cancer treatment is to improve the experimental models used to study cancer and to test different treatment strategies. Despite a recent trend toward the use of three-dimensional culture models in cancer research, few such options exist for esophageal cancer. We hypothesized that a three-dimensional, multi-component tissue model could be created utilizing commercially available advanced cell culture platforms. We initially attempted to use cell sheet technology to assemble a three-dimensional model; however, the human esophageal epithelial cells we intend to employ could not be effectively collected and transferred as cell sheets. We moved on to exploring the use of the RAFT system by Lonza, which concentrates cell-seeded collagen hydrogels in a way that facilitates constructing composite tissue models. We have succeeded in culturing multiple cell types within the RAFT system. One of the key features of our theorized model is the fluorescent labeling of each individual cell type in order to monitor the fate of different cell types within the model and facilitate the use of fluorescence-activated cell sorting to isolate and study each cell population separately. We are currently using a combination of selective culture and cell sorting to generate esophageal cancer cell lines that express a fluorescent marker protein for use in our novel model.