Scaffold-mediated switching of lymphoma metabolism in culture

BACKGROUND: Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and accounts for about a third of all NHL cases. A significant proportion (~40%) of treated DLBCL patients develop refractory or relapsed disease due to drug resistance which can be attributed to metabolomic and genetic variations amongst diverse DLBCL subtypes. An assay platform that reproduces metabolic patterns of DLBCL in vivo could serve as a useful model for DLBCL. METHODS: This report investigated metabolic functions in 2D and 3D cell cultures using parental and drug-resistant DLBCL cell lines as compared to patient biopsy tissue. RESULTS: A 3D culture model controlled the proliferation of parental and drug-resistant DLBCL cell lines, SUDHL-10, SUDHL-10 RR (rituximab resistant), and SUDHL-10 OR (obinutuzumab resistant), as well as retained differential sensitivity to CHOP. The results from metabolic profiling and isotope tracer studies with d-glucose-(13)C(6) indicated metabolic switching in 3D culture when compared with a 2D environment. Analysis of DLBCL patient tumor tissue revealed that the metabolic changes in 3D grown cells were shifted towards that of clinical specimens. CONCLUSION: 3D culture restrained DLBCL cell line growth and modulated metabolic pathways that trend towards the biological characteristics of patient tumors. Counter-intuitively, this research thereby contends that 3D matrices can be a tool to control tumor function towards a slower growing and metabolically dormant state that better reflects in vivo tumor physiology. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40170-022-00291-y.