Abstract 2060: Automation of 3D cancer spheroid assay for compound screening

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Abstract Finding efficient drug combinations to treat cancer patients is critical for therapy success. Accordingly, there is a critical need to develop methods for efficient testing drug efficacy to discover new therapeutic targets. 3D cancer models are highly valuable tools for cancer research and drug development. However, the complexity of performing 3D assays remains a hurdle for adopting these methods for compound screening. To alleviate the bottlenecks that come with labor-intensive manual protocols we developed cell culture automation methods using CellXpress.ai instrument. The instrument enables automation of 2D or 3D culture for prolonged complex workflows. The CellXpress.ai provides automated plating, passaging, media exchanges, monitoring organoids, alone with compound treatment and the end point assays with high content image analysis. In the present study we describe full automation of imaging, analysis, and cell culture process which enables scaling up complex 3D cell-based assays and compound screening. As an example of 3D protocol, we automated culture and imaging of colorectal cancer 3D spheroids formed from HCT116 cell line in U-shape low attachment plates. HCT116 cells were expanded in 2D, then spheroids were formed after automated dispensing of cell suspension into U-shape 96 or 384 plates. After 48h spheroids were treated with 12 anti-cancer compounds, at multiple concentrations for 3-5 days, then stained and imaged. Cell plating, compound additions, media exchange, and staining were performed automatically by CellXpressAI instrument. During the culture spheroids were monitored using transmitted light, with immediate analysis of phenotypic changes, including inhibition of growth or spheroid disintegration. For endpoint assay spheroids were stained with combination of Hoechst nuclear stain and viability dyes Calcein AM and EtHD, then imaged, and analyzed for multiple read-outs including spheroid size, marker intensities, and live-dead cell scoring. We observed concentration-dependent inhibition of spheroid growth and cell death in response to anti-cancer compounds and evaluated effective compound concentrations for cytotoxic or cytostatic effects. Cell culture process automation for 3D assays, powered by imaging and image analysis has a potential to bring 3D biology into another level, allowing to increase throughput and reproducibility, and enabling variety of high throughput drug discovery and precision medicine applications. Citation Format: Oksana Sirenko, Angeline Lim, Astrid Michlmayr, Zhisong Tong, Emilie Keidel, Felix Spira. Automation of 3D cancer spheroid assay for compound screening [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 2060.

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