Figure 1

Characterization of the 3D oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma culture model. (A) Fold changes in percentage of cell proliferation (relative to hour 0) of UM-SCC6 and UPCI:SCC090 in monolayer (2D) and in scaffolds (3D) after 24 h, 72 h, and 5 days. (B) Whole images of histological sections of scaffold cultured with UM-SCC6 and UPCI:SCC090 on days 1 and 5. Cells are stained with DAPI (blue) and green is the collagen scaffold autofluorescence. Scale bars: 1 mm. (C, D) Cell percentage in the core and at the edge of the scaffold area. Data represent mean ± standard deviation. *P < 0.05, 2-tailed Student’s t-test. (E) Images of H&E-stained histological sections and confocal images of UM-SCC6 and UPCI:SCC090 scaffold cultures. From above: H&E images at 4× magnification (scale bars: 100 µm) and 20× magnification (scale bars: 50 µm); confocal images of sections stained with phalloidin in red and DAPI in blue (scale bar: 20 µm). (F, G) CDH1, VIM, and SNAIL relative mRNA expression in UM-SCC6 and UPCI:SCC090 within the scaffold vs. 2D cultures after 24, 48, and 72 h. Data represent mean ± standard deviation. *P < 0.05, 2-tailed Student’s t-test. 3D, 3-dimensional; 2D, 2-dimensional; H&E, hematoxylin and eosin; DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole.