Gene expression of LNCaP cells grown in polyethlene glycol-based hydrogels alone (monocultures) and grown with human osteoblasts as tissue engineered bone (co-culture) with the presence of synthetic androgen, R1881

Analysis of LNCaP cell molecular differences in monocultures and in co-cultures in the presence of R1881. Human osteoblast molecular signatures were also identified from the tissue engineered bone monocultures. LNCaP cells molecular profile was altered by co-culturing with human osteoblasts compared to LNCaP monocultures with or without R1881 stimulations. These results provide insights into the behavioral change of LNCaP cells in a bone-like microenvironment. In this study, LNCaP cells cultured in the hydrogel were prepared and co-cultured with or without human osteoblasts (in the form oftissue engineered bone). Similarly, tissue engineered bone monocultures were also prepared 4-6 weeks earlier before co-culturing with the LNCaP cells. These cultures were maintained up to 24 days in RPMI growth media (+10% FBS) before they were androgen-starved for 48 hours. Cells were either treated with 1nM R1881 or continued to be androgen-deprived (without R1881 with 0.008% ethanol) for another 48 hours prior to cell harvest for gene expression analysis. Biological triplicates were prepared for each condition.