Spheroid growth in ovarian cancer promotes gene expression involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition, stem cell promotion, and multiple stress responses

In this study, we examine gene expression changes through microarray analysis in spheroid versus monolayer ovarian cancer cells treated with TGFβ to induce EMT. Interestingly, EMT, stress response, and stem cell differentiation pathways were all significantly affected by 3D growth. These findings support the hypothesis that three dimensional ovarian cell culturing is physiologically different from its monolayer counterpart. HEY Ovarian Cancer cells were treated with TGFβ and either cultured as a monolayer or using the hanging drop method to create spheroids. Microarray analysis was conducted on spheroid (3D) versus monolayer cells (2D).