Timelapse viability assay to detect division and death of primary multiple myeloma cells in response to drug treatments with single cell resolution.
Christina MarkNatalie S CallanderKenny ChngShigeki MiyamotoJay WarrickPublished in: Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro (2022)
Heterogeneity among cancer cells and in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is thought to be a significant contributor to the heterogeneity of clinical therapy response observed between patients and can evolve over time. A primary example of this is multiple myeloma (MM), a generally incurable cancer where such heterogeneity contributes to the persistent evolution of drug resistance. However, there is a paucity of functional assays for studying this heterogeneity in patient samples or for assessing the influence of the patient TME on therapy response. Indeed, the population-averaged data provided by traditional drug response assays and the large number of cells required for screening remain significant hurdles to advancement. To address these hurdles, we developed a suite of accessible technologies for quantifying functional drug response to a panel of therapies in ex vivo three-dimensional culture using small quantities of a patient's own cancer and TME components. This suite includes tools for label-free single-cell identification and quantification of both cell division and death events with a standard brightfield microscope, an open-source software package for objective image analysis and feasible data management of multi-day timelapse experiments, and a new approach to fluorescent detection of cell death that is compatible with long-term imaging of primary cells. These new tools and capabilities are used to enable sensitive, objective, functional characterization of primary MM cell therapy response in the presence of TME components, laying the foundation for future studies and efforts to enable predictive assessment drug efficacy for individual patients.
Keyphrases
- single cell
- cell therapy
- high throughput
- induced apoptosis
- cell cycle arrest
- rna seq
- label free
- cell death
- end stage renal disease
- multiple myeloma
- ejection fraction
- chronic kidney disease
- newly diagnosed
- case report
- peritoneal dialysis
- stem cells
- emergency department
- electronic health record
- quality improvement
- high resolution
- signaling pathway
- machine learning
- patient reported outcomes
- cell proliferation
- squamous cell carcinoma
- replacement therapy
- fluorescent probe
- real time pcr
- bioinformatics analysis