Cancer Biology

Bone is a primary site of metastasis from prostate and breast cancers. Bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) are mediators of inflammatory processes and are thought to promote tumor growth in the skeletal sites. In order to elucidate how their interactions with tumor cells impact aggressiveness of metastatic tumors in bone in vitro methods are required. By employing a system in which BMMs and tumor cells are grown separately, yet share the media and exchange soluble factors, contribution of each cell type in the context of BMM-tumor cell relationship in the bone marrow can be investigated. Additional advantages of this system include the ability to study: 1) phenotypic changes in BMMs and tumor cells upon co-culture; 2) cell-specific modulation of protein and gene expression; and 3) effects on proliferation and cell survival. It is noteworthy, that this transwell co-culture system is not limited to BMMs and tumor cells and can be easily modified to include other components of bone marrow microenvironment (e.g., adipocytes, stromal cells, osteoblasts).