The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity
The high plasticity of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) allows them to differentiate and proliferate, specifically when xenotransplanted subcutaneously into immunocompromised mice. CSCs are highly tumorigenic, even when inoculated in small numbers. Thus, in vivo limiting dilution assays (LDA) in mice a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-12-01
|
| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/1/334 |
| _version_ | 1797542993070129152 |
|---|---|
| author | Marta Teixeira Pinto Ana Sofia Ribeiro Inês Conde Rita Carvalho Joana Paredes |
| author_facet | Marta Teixeira Pinto Ana Sofia Ribeiro Inês Conde Rita Carvalho Joana Paredes |
| author_sort | Marta Teixeira Pinto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The high plasticity of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) allows them to differentiate and proliferate, specifically when xenotransplanted subcutaneously into immunocompromised mice. CSCs are highly tumorigenic, even when inoculated in small numbers. Thus, in vivo limiting dilution assays (LDA) in mice are the current gold standard method to evaluate CSC enrichment and activity. The chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is a low cost, naturally immune-incompetent and reproducible model widely used to evaluate the spontaneous growth of human tumor cells. Here, we established a CAM-LDA assay able to rapidly reproduce tumor specificities—in particular, the ability of the small population of CSCs to form tumors. We used a panel of organotropic metastatic breast cancer cells, which show an enrichment in a stem cell gene signature, enhanced CD44<sup>+</sup>/CD24<sup>−/low</sup> cell surface expression and increased mammosphere-forming efficiency (MFE). The size of CAM-xenografted tumors correlate with the number of inoculated cancer cells, following mice xenograft growth pattern. CAM and mice tumors are histologically comparable, displaying both breast CSC markers CD44 and CD49f. Therefore, we propose a new tool for studying CSC prevalence and function—the chick CAM-LDA—a model with easy handling, accessibility, rapid growth and the absence of ethical and regulatory constraints. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:38:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0a75bc0475d44b289900ecd74ba86ff2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:38:22Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-0a75bc0475d44b289900ecd74ba86ff22023-11-21T03:12:56ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672020-12-0122133410.3390/ijms22010334The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell ActivityMarta Teixeira Pinto0Ana Sofia Ribeiro1Inês Conde2Rita Carvalho3Joana Paredes4i3S—Institute of Investigation and Innovation in Health, 4200-135 Porto, Portugali3S—Institute of Investigation and Innovation in Health, 4200-135 Porto, Portugali3S—Institute of Investigation and Innovation in Health, 4200-135 Porto, Portugali3S—Institute of Investigation and Innovation in Health, 4200-135 Porto, Portugali3S—Institute of Investigation and Innovation in Health, 4200-135 Porto, PortugalThe high plasticity of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) allows them to differentiate and proliferate, specifically when xenotransplanted subcutaneously into immunocompromised mice. CSCs are highly tumorigenic, even when inoculated in small numbers. Thus, in vivo limiting dilution assays (LDA) in mice are the current gold standard method to evaluate CSC enrichment and activity. The chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is a low cost, naturally immune-incompetent and reproducible model widely used to evaluate the spontaneous growth of human tumor cells. Here, we established a CAM-LDA assay able to rapidly reproduce tumor specificities—in particular, the ability of the small population of CSCs to form tumors. We used a panel of organotropic metastatic breast cancer cells, which show an enrichment in a stem cell gene signature, enhanced CD44<sup>+</sup>/CD24<sup>−/low</sup> cell surface expression and increased mammosphere-forming efficiency (MFE). The size of CAM-xenografted tumors correlate with the number of inoculated cancer cells, following mice xenograft growth pattern. CAM and mice tumors are histologically comparable, displaying both breast CSC markers CD44 and CD49f. Therefore, we propose a new tool for studying CSC prevalence and function—the chick CAM-LDA—a model with easy handling, accessibility, rapid growth and the absence of ethical and regulatory constraints.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/1/334cancer stem cellschicken chorioallantoic membranein vivo modellimiting dilution assay |
| spellingShingle | Marta Teixeira Pinto Ana Sofia Ribeiro Inês Conde Rita Carvalho Joana Paredes The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity International Journal of Molecular Sciences cancer stem cells chicken chorioallantoic membrane in vivo model limiting dilution assay |
| title | The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity |
| title_full | The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity |
| title_fullStr | The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity |
| title_short | The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity |
| title_sort | chick chorioallantoic membrane model a new in vivo tool to evaluate breast cancer stem cell activity |
| topic | cancer stem cells chicken chorioallantoic membrane in vivo model limiting dilution assay |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/1/334 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT martateixeirapinto thechickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity AT anasofiaribeiro thechickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity AT inesconde thechickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity AT ritacarvalho thechickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity AT joanaparedes thechickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity AT martateixeirapinto chickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity AT anasofiaribeiro chickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity AT inesconde chickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity AT ritacarvalho chickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity AT joanaparedes chickchorioallantoicmembranemodelanewinvivotooltoevaluatebreastcancerstemcellactivity |