Figure 3

3D microenvironment induces hypoxic and glycolytic adaptation by oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells. (A) Representative images of HIF-1α-stained cytospinned cells and histological sections of 2D and 3D cultures (scale bar: 50 µm). (B, C) Percentage of HIF-1α-positive cells in 2D and 3D cultures of UM-SCC6 and UPCI:SCC090 after 24, 48, and 72 h. Data represent mean ± standard deviation. *P < 0.05, 2-tailed Student’s t-test. (D) GAPDH mRNA expression levels in 3D vs. 2D cultures after 24, 48, and 72 h. Data represent mean ± standard deviation. *P < 0.05, 2-tailed Student’s t-test. (E) Representative images of GLUT-1-stained cytospinned cells and histological sections of 2D and 3D cultures (scale bar: 50 µm). 3D, 3-dimensional; HIF-1α, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α; 2D, 2-dimensional; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; GLUT-1, glucose transporter.