Rapidly Assess Drug Response In 2D And 3D Breast Cancer Model Systems With A Luminescent Viability Assay

By Prathyushakrishna Macha, PhD and Cathy Olsen, PhD, Molecular Devices

This content is brought to you by Molecular Devices, a Danaher Operating Company.

For many years, two-dimensional (2D) cell culture, where cells are grown in a monolayer on a flat surface, has been a convenient system for investigating disease mechanisms and assessing the effects of potential new drugs. Cancer cell lines grown in 2D have long served as experimental surrogates for the cancers from which they were derived. However, recent advancements have seen the culture of cancer cells, along with other cell types, in three-dimensional (3D) formats. These 3D cultures allow cells to form multi-layered structures, which create new models for cancer research that are considered more biologically relevant.

While imaging and high-content analysis are often required to gain detailed information on the effects that drug candidates have on complex 3D cellular models, there is also a need for straightforward cell-based assays that can assess a single parameter, such as overall cell viability. One widely used method to assess a treatment’s effect on cell viability is the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assay. Metabolically active cells use ATP as a source of energy, and when injured or deprived of nutrients, cells tend to show a rapid decline in cytoplasmic ATP.

Examine why 2D cell cultures have been instrumental in drug discovery and disease research, as well as how the shift toward 3D cell cultures offers more biologically relevant models.