• confocal fluorescence microscopy
• gellan gum
• non-small cell lung cancer
• Tissue-engineering

This experimental work focuses on the development of three-dimensional in vitro model to study lung adenocarcinoma, in particular the spatial organization of proteins of the polycomb repressive complex (PRC) family. Briefly, different types of scaffolds are prepared via conventional methods, aiming to match the elastic modulus of the lung adenocarcinoma microenvironment and to resemble the morphology of the alveoli. Confocal fluorescence microscopy is exploited to assess the variation of the spatial localization of PRC proteins inside the nuclei of the cells. Comparisons between the two dimensional and three dimensional cultures are performed and based on the effect of the three dimensional culture, the material composition and the morphology of the cultured tissue.