Abstract:

Abstract:Objective
To investigate  the formation and density of vasculogenic minicry(VM)  in colon cancer cells,and   to clarify the relevance between VM and cell migration and invasion,and to provide a new starting point and theoretical basis for clinical treatment of colon carcinoma.Methods The colon cancer cell lines HCT8,HCT116,LS174T and HT29 were cultured in three-dimensional condition in vitro,and the formation of VM was observed under inverted microscope;then the density of VM was calculated;the cell migration was tested by wound healing assay,while the cell invasion was observed by Transwell  assay;the linear correlation analysis was used to detect  the relationship between the  density of VM and tumor cell migration distance or the number of cells penetrating the membrane.Results The   HCT8 and HCT116 cells cultured in three-dimensional condition could form VM  in vitro,and the densities of VM of HCT8 cells were (6.75±0.957) and (5.75±0.957)/ visual field,while the LS174T,HT29 cells were unable to form VM.The results of wound healing assay showed that the migration distances on the picture   of HCT8,HCT116 and LS174T cells were (3.833±0.831),(3.967±0.975), and (0.817±0.333) cm,respectively;but the  HT29 cells had no migration trend.The Transwell assay results showed that the number of HCT8,HCT116,LS174T， and HT29 cells penetrating the membrane of every vision was 71.6±4.506,22.4±1.517,0.6±0.894,and 0.2±0.447,respectively.The density of VM was positively correlated with the migration distance (r=0.934,P<0.05) and the number of cells penetrating the membrane detected by Transwell  assay (r=0.853,P<0.05).Conclusion VM exists in the colon cancer cells,and VM may be contributed to the migration and invasion of colon cancer.

Key words:  colon neoplasms, vasculogenic mimicry, three-dimensional culture, migration, invasion