Work

Stem cell enriched-epithelial spheroid cultures for rapidly assaying small intestinal radioprotectors and radiosensitizers in vitro

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Radiation therapy is one of the main treatment options for many cancer patients. Although high doses of radiation may maximize tumor cell killing, dose escalation is limited by toxicity to neighboring normal tissues. This limitation applies particularly to the small intestine, the second most radiosensitive organ in the body. Identifying small intestinal (SI) radioprotectors could enable dose escalation in the treatment of abdominopelvic malignancies. However, the only assay currently available to identify effects of radiomodulating drugs on the regenerating capacity of SI stem cells is the Withers-Elkind microcolony assay, which requires large numbers of mice, making it a costly and low throughput method. Here, we describe a novel spheroid formation assay (SFA) that utilizes SI stem cell-enriched three-dimensional epithelial spheroid cultures to identify gastrointestinal radiomodulators ex vivo. The SFA is scalable for high throughput screening and can be used to identify both radioprotectors and radiosensitizers.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-33747-7

Authors: Marimar de la Cruz Bonilla, Kristina M. Stemler, Cullen M. Taniguchi, Helen Piwnica-Worms

Institution: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Language: English

Topic: Effects of Radiation Exposure

Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690