Effects of TGF-β1 on the migration of oral cancer-associated fibroblasts in two and three dimensional co-culture models

To observe the effect of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) on the migration of oral carcinoma associated fibroblasts (CAFs) with two-dimensional culture model and three-dimensional model.

Under two-dimensional culture conditions, CAFs stimulated by TGF-β1 with the addition of 10 ng/mL medium were used as the experimental group, and untreated CAFs were used as the control group. The migration of CAFs with the stimulation of TGF-β1 was measured by cell scratch assay and transwell assay. CAFs positive for green fluorescent protein (GFP) were cultured by retrovirus transfection. Human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cells SCC25, GFP(+) CAFs and CAFs with three-dimensional cell co-culture models were established. The three-dimensional model cultured under the stimulation of TGF-β1 with 10 ng/mL medium was used as the experimental group, and the three-dimensional model without TGF-β1 was used as the control group. The migration of CAFs with the stimulation of TGF-β1 was also measured by the three-dimensional models.

It was verified that 10 ng/mL TGF-β1 promoted the migration of CAFs in the two-dimensional culture model. The three-dimensional co-culture models of SCC25, GFP(+) CAFs and CAFs were successfully established. The migration of SCC25 and CAFs was detected in the three-dimensional model. However, 10 ng/mL TGF-β1 had little effect on their migration.

The effect of TGF-β1 in vitro on the migration of oral CAFs was associated with different culture models in two and three dimensions.