Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

A transfection method of PS-asODNs targeting ANGPTL4 in multicellular structures of hepatocarcinoma cell line

Subjects

Abstract

To find an efficient transfection method for metastatic cancer cells, we established a three-dimensional (3D) growth model for solid tumor cells to mimic the metastatic cancer cells in the vascular system and compared the efficiency of several transfection methods in vitro. We found that it was optimal to transfect two-dimensional cells in vitro and detach them for 3D growth 6 h later. The transfection efficiency of this method was high, and the results were reliable. This method can be used to deliver several types of small molecules into the 3D metastatic cell model. Using this method, we increased our understanding of why drugs that are effective in vitro cannot treat the disease in vivo. If this phenomenon occurs due to the resistance of the cells to the drug, other treatment agents for the disease must be identified. However, if this occurs because the agent cannot reach the cells inside the 3D aggregate, we can improve the delivery efficiency by using methods that target the agent to all cells. Briefly, the method introduced in this study will contribute to future research focusing on the 3D metastatic cell model as well as on drug development for various solid tumors.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bissell MJ, Rizki A, Mian IS . Tissue architecture: the ultimate regulator of breast epithelial function. Curr Opin Cell Biol 2003; 15: 753–762.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Weaver VM, Petersen OW, Wang F, Larabell CA, Briand P, Damsky C et al. Reversion of the malignant phenotype of human breast cells in three-dimensional culture and in vivo by integrin blocking antibodies. J Cell Biol 1997; 137: 231–245.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Abbott A . Cell culture: biology's new dimension. Nature 2003; 424: 870–872.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bissell MJ, Radisky D . Putting tumours in context. Nat Rev Cancer 2001; 1: 46–54.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Breslin S, O'Driscoll L . Three-dimensional cell culture: the missing link in drug discovery. Drug Discov Today 2012; 18: 240–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Arrondeau J, Gan HK, Razak AR, Paoletti X, Le Tourneau C . Development of anti-cancer drugs. Discov Med 2010; 10: 355–362.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Hait WN . Anticancer drug development: the grand challenges. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2010; 9: 253–254.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hopkins AL . Network pharmacology: the next paradigm in drug discovery. Nat Chem Biol 2008; 4: 682–690.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Kola I . The state of innovation in drug development. Clin Pharmacol Therap 2008; 83: 227–230.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. DiMasi JA, Grabowski HG . Economics of new oncology drug development. J Clin Oncol 2007; 25: 209–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Mazzoleni G, Di Lorenzo D, Steimberg N . Modelling tissues in 3D: the next future of pharmaco-toxicology and food research? Genes Nutr 2009; 4: 13–22.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sleeman J, Steeg PS . Cancer metastasis as a therapeutic target. Eur J cancer 2010; 46: 1177–1180.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Chitcholtan K, Asselin E, Parent S, Sykes PH, Evans JJ . Differences in growth properties of endometrial cancer in three dimensional (3D) culture and 2D cell monolayer. Exp Cell Res 2013; 319: 75–87.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Zschenker O, Streichert T, Hehlgans S, Cordes N . Genome-wide gene expression analysis in cancer cells reveals 3D growth to affect ECM and processes associated with cell adhesion but not DNA repair. PLoS One 2012; 7: e34279.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Yang X, Sarvestani SK, Moeinzadeh S, He X, Jabbari E . Three-dimensional-engineered matrix to study cancer stem cells and tumorsphere formation: effect of matrix modulus. Tissue Eng Part A 2012; 19: 669–684.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Xu Y, Li Q, Li XY, Yang QY, Xu WW, Liu GL . Short-term anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment elicits vasculogenic mimicry formation of tumors to accelerate metastasis. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2012; 31: 16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Zhang Z, Cao L, Li J, Liang X, Liu Y, Liu H et al. Acquisition of anoikis resistance reveals a synoikis-like survival style in BEL7402 hepatoma cells. Cancer Lett 2008; 267: 106–115.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Cao L, Han L, Zhang Z, Li J, Qu Z, Du J et al. Involvement of anoikis-resistance in the metastasis of hepatoma cells. Exp Cell Res 2009; 315: 1148–1156.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Loberg RD, Fridman Y, Pienta BA, Keller ET, McCauley LK, Taichman RS et al. Detection and isolation of circulating tumor cells in urologic cancers: a review. Neoplasia 2004; 6: 302–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Geiger TR, Peeper DS . Critical role for TrkB kinase function in anoikis suppression, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. Cancer Res 2007; 67: 6221–6229.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Zhang Y, Lu H, Dazin P, Kapila Y . Squamous cell carcinoma cell aggregates escape suspension-induced, p53-mediated anoikis: fibronectin and integrin alphav mediate survival signals through focal adhesion kinase. J Biol Chem 2004; 279: 48342–48349.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. LaBarbera DV, Reid BG, Yoo BH . The multicellular tumor spheroid model for high-throughput cancer drug discovery. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2012; 7: 819–830.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Alpaugh ML, Barsky SH . Reversible model of spheroid formation allows for high efficiency of gene delivery ex vivo and accurate gene assessment in vivo. Human Gene Ther 2002; 13: 1245–1258.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Zhang Z, Han L, Cao L, Liang X, Liu Y, Liu H et al. Aggregation formation mediated anoikis resistance of BEL7402 hepatoma cells. Folia Histochem Cytobiol 2008; 46: 331–336.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Cui Z, Mumper RJ . The effect of co-administration of adjuvants with a nanoparticle-based genetic vaccine delivery system on the resulting immune responses. Eur J Pharm Biopharm 2003; 55: 11–18.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Cheng L, Ziegelhoffer PR, Yang NS . In vivo promoter activity and transgene expression in mammalian somatic tissues evaluated by using particle bombardment. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1993; 90: 4455–4459.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. O'Brien JA, Lummis SC . Biolistic transfection of neurons in organotypic brain slices. Methods Mol Biol 2013; 940: 157–166.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Professor Qihong Huang (The Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA) and Editors Benjamin G, Adam P and Elizabeth G (American Journal Experts, Durham, NC, USA) for their critically constructive suggestions regarding our manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (30700357, 30772031 and 30873025), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2010HM033) and Science and Technology Development of Shandong Province (2013YD18016).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L Cao.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kong, Q., Wu, G., Han, L. et al. A transfection method of PS-asODNs targeting ANGPTL4 in multicellular structures of hepatocarcinoma cell line. Cancer Gene Ther 22, 285–290 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/cgt.2015.22

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/cgt.2015.22

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links