The effect of matrices on the gene expression profile of patient-derived head and neck carcinoma cells for in vitro therapy testing

ObjectiveHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a highly aggressive tumor with a 5-year mortality rate of similar to 50%. New in vitro methods are needed for testing patients' cancer cell response to anti-cancer treatments. We aimed to investigate how the gene expression of fresh carcinoma tissue samples and freshly digested single cancer cells change after short-term cell culturing on plastic, Matrigel or Myogel. Additionally, we studied the effect of these changes on the cancer cells' response to anti-cancer treatments.Materials/methodsFresh tissue samples from HNSCC patients were obtained perioperatively and single cells were enzymatically isolated and cultured on either plastic, Matrigel or Myogel. We treated the cultured cells with cisplatin, cetuximab, and irradiation; and performed cell viability measurement. RNA was isolated from fresh tissue samples, freshly isolated single cells and cultured cells, and RNA sequencing transcriptome profiling and gene set enrichment analysis were performed.ResultsCancer cells obtained from fresh tissue samples changed their gene expression regardless of the culturing conditions, which may be due to the enzymatic digestion of the tissue. Myogel was more effective than Matrigel at supporting the upregulation of pathways related to cancer cell proliferation and invasion. The impacts of anti-cancer treatments varied between culturing conditions.ConclusionsOur study showed the challenge of in vitro cancer drug testing using enzymatic cell digestion. The upregulation of many targeted pathways in the cultured cells may partially explain the common clinical failure of the targeted cancer drugs that pass the in vitro testing.

Automated summary

This study investigated the changes in gene expression and response to anti-cancer treatments of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells under different culturing conditions. The results showed that culturing conditions can alter the gene expression of cancer cells, and Myogel is more effective at upregulating pathways related to cancer cell proliferation and invasion. The effectiveness of anti-cancer treatments varied depending on the culturing conditions.