Abstract

Tumour dissemination is a major reason for failure of therapy for many tumour types therefore there is a requirement for novel targets & therapies. One of the main challenges is having a relevant, validated experimental model that expresses the tumour dissemination process. The aim of the work presented here is to study the effect of the compound cRGDfV on the invasion of U87-MG cell as spheres in 3D model and as single layer in 2D model. cRGDfV inhibited U87- MG spheroid invasion through the gel in a dose and time-dependent manner. However, cRGDfV showed a significantly more potent effect on the invasion of U87-MG cells through Matrigel coated 2D transwells compared to its effect on the invasion of U87-MG cells from spheroids in collagen. The spheroid invasion assay has the advantage over standard monolayer transwell chamber invasion assays of being a 3-dimensional assay, and thus mimics better the cell-cell interactions and architecture that are present in a tumour compared to the monolayer-based assay.