Abstract

Multicellular tumor spheroids are a good tool for testing new anticancer drugs, including those that may target cancer stem cells (CSCs), responsible for cancer progression, metastasis, and recurrence. Therefore, following the initial evaluation of the impact of antitumor unsymmetrical bisacridines (UAs) on lung and colon cancer cells using traditional monolayer cultures, I extended my investigations and applied the spherical model. This approach aimed to uncover the cellular response induced by UAs in these cancer cells, with an additional focus on the CSC-like population. In my research, I showed that UAs affected the viability of the studied cells, as well as their spherogenic potential in 2D and 3D. Furthermore, I proved that the most promising UAs (C-2045 and C-2053) induced apoptosis in HCT116 colon and A549 lung cancer spheroids, to a similar, or even higher extent than in monolayer. Finally, I identified the population of CSC-like cells in 2D and 3D cultures of the studied cell lines by determining the levels of CD166, CD133, CD44, and EpCAM markers and I showed that selected UAs affected the CSC-like population in both cell lines, in A549 more profoundly in 3D than 2D. Thus, I have proven that UAs exhibit high antitumor properties in both 2D and 3D conditions and affect the CSC-like population, which makes them promising candidates for future therapeutic applications.

Author (1)