Interaction and self-organization of human mesenchymal stem cells and neuro-blastoma SH-SY5Y cells under co-culture conditions: A novel system for modeling cancer cell micro-environment

The common drawback of many in vitro cell culture systems is the absence of appropriate micro-environment, which is formed by the combination of factors such as cell-cell contacts, extracellular matrix and paracrine regulation. Micro-environmental factors in a tumor tissue can influence physiological status of the cancer cells and their susceptibility to anticancer therapies. Interaction of cancer cells with their micro-environment and regional stem cells, therefore, is of particular interest. Development of in vitro systems which allow more accurate modeling of complex relations occurring in real tumor environments can increase efficiency of preclinical assays for screening anticancer drugs. The aim of this work was to study interactions between human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and neuro-blastoma cancer SH-SY5Y cells under co-culture conditions on different coated surfaces to determine the effect of co-existence of cancer and stem cells on each cellular population under various stress conditions. We developed an efficient in vitro system for studying individual cancer and stem cell populations during co-culture using differential live fluorescent membrane labeling, and demonstrated self-organization of cancer and stem cells during co-culture on various coated surfaces. Our findings support the evidence that cancer and stem cell interactions play important roles in cellular behavior of cancer cells. These properties can be used in different fields of cancer research, tissue engineering and biotechnology.