Investigating Breast Cancer Cell Behavior Using Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

Despite early detection through the use of mammograms and aggressive intervention, breast cancer (BC) remains a clinical dilemma. BC can resurge after >10 years of remission. Studies indicate that BC cells (BCCs) with self-renewal and chemoresistance could be involved in dormancy. The majority of studies use in vitro, two-dimensional (2-D) monolayer cultures, which do not recapitulate the in vivo microenvironment. Thus, to determine the effect of three-dimensional (3-D) microenvironment on BCCs, this study fabricated tissue engineering scaffolds made of poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) having aligned or random fibers. Random and aligned fibers mimic, respectively, the random and highly organized collagen fibers found in the tumor extracellular matrix. Chemoresistant BCCs were obtained by treating with carboplatin. Western blot analysis of carboplatin resistant (treated) MDA-MB-231 (highly invasive, basal-like) and T47D (low-invasive, luminal) BCCs showed an increase in Bcl-2, Oct-4 and Sox-2, suggesting protection from apoptosis and increase in stem-like markers. Further studies with MDA-MB-231 BCCs seeded on the scaffolds showed little to no change in cell number over time for non-treated BCCs whereas on tissue culture polystyrene (TCP), non-treated BCCs displayed a significant increase in cell number at days 4 and 7 as compared to day 1 (p