Kutkoside

Ex vivo organotypic tissue slice cultures are based on maintaining thin, viable tissue sections at an air-liquid interface to preserve native cytoarchitecture and local cell-matrix interactions, enabling observation of cell behavior such as migration and tissue infiltration within a physiologically relevant 3D microenvironment. The method relies on maintaining tissue viability on porous membrane supports, allowing diffusion of nutrients and oxygen while preserving structural integrity for extended culture periods, which makes it suitable for studying dynamic cellular processes in intact tissue contexts such as cell movement and tissue remodeling. .

Mitochondrial membrane potential fluorescent assays estimate ΔΨm in living cells using lipophilic cationic dyes such as TMRM, TMRE, rhodamine 123, and JC-1, which accumulate in mitochondria according to membrane polarization; loss of signal after FCCP or CCCP treatment is interpreted as mitochondrial depolarization. TMRM/TMRE and rhodamine 123 are commonly used for semi-quantitative live-cell microscopy or flow cytometry, while JC-1 can report a shift from red aggregate fluorescence to green monomer fluorescence during depolarization; interpretation requires controls because dye concentration, quenching mode, cell type, dye efflux, and mitochondrial mass can affect fluorescence independently of ΔΨm.

Mitochondrial membrane potential staining measures the electrochemical polarization across the mitochondrial inner membrane in live cells using lipophilic cationic fluorescent probes; early rhodamine-based work showed that selective mitochondrial dye accumulation is lost when the mitochondrial transmembrane potential is dissipated. JC-1 reports mitochondrial polarization by shifting from green monomer fluorescence to red J-aggregate fluorescence as dye concentration increases within energized mitochondria; therefore, the red/green fluorescence ratio is used as a relative readout of mitochondrial membrane potential. TMRE or TMRM staining provides a single-channel relative readout because these cationic rhodamine esters accumulate in polarized mitochondria, and lower fluorescence indicates reduced mitochondrial polarization when acquisition and dye-loading conditions are controlled. Mitochondrial mass staining is commonly performed with MitoTracker Green FM or related MitoTracker dyes as

The organotypic 3D invasion assay measures carcinoma-cell invasion into a fibroblast-remodeled extracellular matrix, usually collagen I with or without basement-membrane matrix, under an air-liquid or grid-supported culture condition; the readout is invasion depth, invaded area, or an invasion index from histological or fluorescence images. This assay models stromal regulation of invasion because fibroblasts or CAFs remodel matrix, generate tracks, and can lead collective carcinoma-cell invasion; the resulting cancer-cell penetration into the gel reflects tumor-stroma-ECM interactions rather than migration on a rigid 2D substrate.

Cell invasion is the ability of cells to migrate from one area to another via the extracellular matrix. Cell invasion is the response of normal and cancer cells to chemical and mechanical stimuli. Before migrating to a new region, the extracellular matrix is degraded by proteases within the cell. Cell invasion often occurs during wound repair, vascularization and inflammation, abnormal tissue invasion, and tumor cell metastasis.

Lysosome and acidic-vesicle live-cell staining detects acidic intracellular compartments by using membrane-permeant acidotropic probes that accumulate in low-pH vesicles, including lysosomes, late endosomes, autolysosomes, and acidic phagosomes. LysoTracker staining is commonly used as an intensity-based readout of acidic lysosomal compartment abundance or enlargement, while acridine orange produces green fluorescence in less concentrated compartments and red fluorescence after concentration-dependent accumulation in acidic vesicular organelles. Loss or reduction of acridine-orange red signal can be used as a readout of lysosomal membrane permeabilization or reduced acidic-vesicle integrity. This protocol is designed for live cultured cells and can be adapted for fluorescence microscopy, high-content imaging, plate-reader readout, or flow cytometry when the selected literature supports the readout. Because these dyes report acidotropic accumulation rather than lysosome identity alone,

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent, non-apoptotic form of regulated cell death characterized by lethal lipid peroxidation and sensitivity to suppression by iron chelators or lipophilic radical-trapping antioxidants. The core pathway links cystine uptake through system Xc−, glutathione availability, GPX4-dependent detoxification of phospholipid hydroperoxides, iron-dependent oxidative reactions, and polyunsaturated-phospholipid metabolism into a cell-death program that is biochemically and morphologically distinct from apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy. The ferroptosis pathway is experimentally linked to phenotype through chemical and genetic perturbation. Erastin induces ferroptosis by inhibiting cystine uptake through system Xc− and weakening antioxidant defenses, while GPX4 inhibition or depletion causes lipid peroxide accumulation and ferroptotic cancer-cell death. ACSL4 and oxidizable arachidonoyl- or adrenoyl-containing phosphatidylethanolamines shape ferroptosis sensitivity by con

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous cancer, and it has been distinguished into four subtypes: luminal A, luminal B, HER2-positive and basal-like. Molecular mutations, epigenetic alterations, hormone exposure and immune microenvironment are related to the progression of breast cancer.

3D tumor spheroid invasion assay measures outward tumor-cell movement from a compact multicellular spheroid into a surrounding extracellular matrix, producing image-based readouts such as invasion area, invasion distance, cell dispersion, or time-resolved cell movement. The method models tumor-cell interaction with matrix components in three dimensions and is used to study invasive phenotypes in cancer models including glioblastoma, squamous cell carcinoma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, and other solid tumor systems.