Biological response of multicellular emt6 spheroids to exogenous lactate

The influence of elevated lactate concentrations, as found in tumor microregions, on cellular growth, viability, and metabolic state was studied employing the multicellular spheroid model. Spheroids of EMT6/Ro cells were cultured at 37 degrees C in 5% or 20% (v/v) oxygen, using stirred media with various concentrations of exogenous lactate ranging from 0.0 mM (standard conditions) to 20.0 mM. Elevated concentrations of exogenous lactate led to a considerable decrease of the maximum spheroid diameter at growth saturation, e.g., for 20% O2 from around 1700 microns to 700 microns in 0.0 and 20.0 mM lactate respectively. Histological investigations showed that the thickness of the viable cell r…