ArticleCancer research communications2026
3D "Emboli" Culture Models Epithelial Breast Cancer Cell Oxidative Mitochondrial Metabolism with Relevance for Lung Metastasis.
Article in Cancer research communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Metabolic maintenance of breast cancer cells and metastases through E-cadherin/YAP-dependent pyruvate carboxylase expression.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- NucleoNet and DropNet: Generalist deep learning models for instance segmentation of nuclei and lipid droplets from electron microscopy images.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems have emerged as powerful tools for modeling tumor biology in ex vivo settings. However, the diverse array of available 3D culture methods presents challenges in selecting the most appropriate model for specific research questions. This study provides a comparative analysis of breast cancer cells (SUM149, IBC-3, and MDA-MB-468) in the mammosphere culture (SphC) model or an "emboli" culture (EmC) model, which enrich for cancer stem cells and epithelial features, respectively. The EmC model, designed originally for inflammatory breast cancer, is characterized by media viscosity and mechanical rocking of the culture vessel. Notably, cells in EmC showed a distinct and durable reduction in cell proliferation ex vivo while demonstrating high capacity to establish experimental lung metastases in vivo. Ultrastructural quantitative analysis of electron microscopy images suggested that cells in EmC acquire nuclear and mitochondrial features that resemble those of tumor tissue. Proteomics, single-cell transcriptomics, and metabolic flux analyses showed that cells in EmC and SphC favor mitochondrial oxidative metabolism (OXPHOS) and glycolysis, respectively. EmC rendered cells hypersensitive to OXPHOS inhibition but more resistant to oxidative stress. Several genes associated with lung metastasis, including ID1, were specifically enriched in EmC. Given the emerging role of OXPHOS in breast cancer cell survival during dissemination and as established metastases, we propose that the EmC paradigm is a suitable ex vivo model to study signaling pathways relevant for basal epithelial breast cancer, including lung metastases, and to assess drug sensitivities and resistance mechanisms of such breast cancer cells ex vivo. SIGNIFICANCE: This study provides an in-depth characterization of a resource-efficient, yet powerful 3D culture paradigm to improve the physiologic relevance of ex vivo approaches. Applicable to epithelial cancers, this model offers a platform to accelerate the discovery of physiologically relevant signaling pathways and specific cancer cell vulnerabilities.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.