Karrobi, KavonTank, AnupFuzail, Mohammad AhsanKalidoss, MadhumathiTilbury, KarissaZaman, MuhammadFerruzzi, JacopoRoblyer, Darren2024-05-312024-05-312023-03-03K. Karrobi, A. Tank, M.A. Fuzail, M. Kalidoss, K. Tilbury, M. Zaman, J. Ferruzzi, D. Roblyer. 2023. "Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) reveals spatial-metabolic changes in 3D breast cancer spheroids." Scientific Reports, Volume 13, Issue 1, pp.3624-. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30403-72045-2322https://hdl.handle.net/2144/48947Cancer cells are mechanically sensitive to physical properties of the microenvironment, which can affect downstream signaling to promote malignancy, in part through the modulation of metabolic pathways. Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) can be used to measure the fluorescence lifetime of endogenous fluorophores, such as the metabolic co-factors NAD(P)H and FAD, in live samples. We used multiphoton FLIM to investigate the changes in cellular metabolism of 3D breast spheroids derived from MCF-10A and MD-MB-231 cell lines embedded in collagen with varying densities (1 vs. 4 mg/ml) over time (Day 0 vs. Day 3). MCF-10A spheroids demonstrated spatial gradients, with the cells closest to the spheroid edge exhibiting FLIM changes consistent with a shift towards oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) while the spheroid core had changes consistent with a shift towards glycolysis. The MDA-MB-231 spheroids had a large shift consistent with increased OXPHOS with a more pronounced change at the higher collagen concentration. The MDA-MB-231 spheroids invaded into the collagen gel over time and cells that traveled the farthest had the largest changes consistent with a shift towards OXPHOS. Overall, these results suggest that the cells in contact with the extracellular matrix (ECM) and those that migrated the farthest had changes consistent with a metabolic shift towards OXPHOS. More generally, these results demonstrate the ability of multiphoton FLIM to characterize how spheroids metabolism and spatial metabolic gradients are modified by physical properties of the 3D ECM.p. 3624Electronicen© The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http:// creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by/4. 0/.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Oxidative phosphorylationMicroscopy, fluorescenceSignal transductionCell lineExtracellular matrixNADNeoplasmsArticle2024-03-2410.1038/s41598-023-30403-70000-0002-3723-5431 (Zaman, Muhammad)0000-0002-5301-4364 (Roblyer, Darren)821412