Three Dimensional Models of Endocrine Organs and Target Tissues Regulated by the Endocrine System
by
Edlira Luca
1,*,†, 
Kathrin Zitzmann
2,†,
Stefan Bornstein
1,3,
Patrick Kugelmeier
4,
Felix Beuschlein
1,5,
Svenja Nölting
1,2 and
Constanze Hantel
1,3 1
Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Clinical Nutrition, University Hospital Zurich (USZ) and University of Zurich (UZH), 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
2
Department of Medicine IV, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 80336 München, Germany
3
Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik III, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
4
Kugelmeiers AG, 8703 Erlenbach, Switzerland
5
Endocrine Research Unit, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV, Klinikum der Universität München, 80336 Munich, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Cancers 2023, 15(18), 4601; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15184601
Submission received: 26 June 2023
/
Revised: 28 August 2023
/
Accepted: 14 September 2023
/
Published: 17 September 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Cell Culture Cancer Models: Development and Applications 2.0)
Simple Summary
The intricate endocrine system regulates human physiology by producing and secreting various hormones. Novel methodology pertaining to spheroids and organoids is currently used to understand endocrine gland development and function, as well as to identify novel therapeutic agents to target endocrine cancers. Cells cultured in non-adherent conditions aggregate to form 3-dimentional spheres. Spheroids results from aggregates of one cell type, while multiple cells types self-organize together into organoids. Organoids are multifaceted structures that capture the intricacies of cell-cell interactions and mimic the biological complexity of organs in a dish. Additionally, patient tumor biopsies cultured as organoids can recapitulate the phenotype and genotype of the original tumors in vitro, thereby advancing therapeutic strategies for personalized medicine. In this manuscript, we will review the efforts to implement spheroids/organoids technology in basic research to answer fundamental questions in endocrine gland physiology as well as in preclinical research for cancers of endocrine organs and some of their target tissues.
Abstract
Immortalized cell lines originating from tumors and cultured in monolayers in vitro display consistent behavior and response, and generate reproducible results across laboratories. However, for certain endpoints, these cell lines behave quite differently from the original solid tumors. Thereby, the homogeneity of immortalized cell lines and two-dimensionality of monolayer cultures deters from the development of new therapies and translatability of results to the more complex situation in vivo. Organoids originating from tissue biopsies and spheroids from cell lines mimic the heterogeneous and multidimensional characteristics of tumor cells in 3D structures in vitro. Thus, they have the advantage of recapitulating the more complex tissue architecture of solid tumors. In this review, we discuss recent efforts in basic and preclinical cancer research to establish methods to generate organoids/spheroids and living biobanks from endocrine tissues and target organs under endocrine control while striving to achieve solutions in personalized medicine.
