Analysis of RNA transcript levels reveals upregulation of hypoxia markers for pancreatic cancer cells cultured in 3D

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a notoriously aggressive tumor type due to its high levels of metastasis and recurrence and is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the Western world. Pancreatic tumors typically lack vasculature and are hypoxic due to oxygen diffusion limitations. In this study, the PDAC cell line PANC-1 was seeded at densities ranging from 500 to 5,000 cells in Corning spheroid microplates and the relative expression of hypoxia markers HIF-1α, GLUT-1, and CA IX were analyzed compared to 2D culture using RT-qPCR to assess the correlation between spheroid size and hypoxia marker expression.